
CHICAGO WATER. WORKS. 



CHICAGO 



AND 



ITS SUBURBS. 



BY EVERETT CHAMBERLIN. 






B 









^IM&VM, 



CHICAGO : 

T. A. HUNGERFORD & CO 

1874. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

T. A. HUNGERFORD & CO., 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, 



■ C3f 



SifiKESIOE: 



/PUBLISHING & PRINTING CO./ 



Z i/CHICA CrO. 




INTRODUCTION 



The main purpose in the preparation of this volume has been to 
furnish the public with a more complete statement than has hitherto 
been attainable of the present aspect of Chicago ; this added to a 
clear, logical and sufficiently minute examination into the history of 
the city from its earliest days. The research of the author and his 
assistants into original and unpublished sources of information has 
been directed chiefly to the Chicago of the present, rather than that of 
the past ; the fact being that not only were all the valuable original 
annals of Chicago destroyed by the fire of 1871, but the old 
citizens, having lost in nearly every case the memoranda from which 
they were wont to refresh their recollection, have become less trust- 
worthy sources of information than they were a few years ago. This 
being the case, it was thought best to make Part I. of " Chicago 
and its Suburbs" a thoroughly logical and analytical, rather than 
an exhaustively circumstantial treatment of the development of 
Chicago. It is believed that the history of Chicago, as given in this 
volume, not only combines all the trustworthy statements of essential 
facts which have been published on this subject (together with some 
which are new), but exhibits the wonderful development of the city 
which the world has adopted as one of its greatest wonders, in a 
more logical, thoughtful, and instructive manner than they have been 
given heretofore. The author (or editor) is able to say this without 
egotism, since the credit of it must be ascribed to the Hon. James M. 
Binckley, whose important services in this and other departments of 
the present work are cheerfully and gratefully acknowledged. 

Attention is repectfully called to the full array of new facts 
brought out in Part II., especially concerning the railroad resources, 
the commerce and the manufactures of Chicago. The facts there 
revealed, and which great pains have been taken to substantiate, are 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



full of a significance which the author, averse to anything which 
seems like boasting or special pleading, leaves the reader to interpret 
for himself. One of these facts is that Chicago has already tributary 
to herself, (not reckoning as such her outlets to the East and their 
branches) one-third of all the railroad mileage on this continent. 
Another is that her manufactures have increased 137 per cent, in 
the last three years, and 1,230 per cent, within the last thirteen years. 
And her manufactures are being extended and her railroads being 
pushed into the fertile fields of the West, North, and South, with an 
energy which even the present hostility of the rural population 
seems unlikely seriously to interrupt. The tables of railroad mile- 
age are not only useful and instructive, they are absolutely new, 
having been compiled from many scattered pages in Poor's Manual, 
in Vernon's later and remarkably elaborate work, and in the latest 
official statements of the corporations concerned. Great care has 
been taken to verify details and to exclude all statements which 
discount the future — once a favorite habit of the West, now, happily, 
going into disuse (though the editor would not gaurantee that the 
reader will not find a little of it in Part VI., just as he would in the 
suburban prospectuses of any other city — even Boston). 

In the chapter on the Commerce of Chicago, the reader will learn 
that the largest jobbing firms of the city are doing thirty times the 
volume of business which the largest did twelve years ago ; and that 
there are now nearly a hundred firms in strictly mercantile lines 
which transcend the maximum of them. The bank clearings in 
Chicago during September, 1873, were just about $30,000,000 per 
week; and the total clearings for the summer of 1873 showed an 
increase over the corresponding period of 1872 averaging about 
$1,250,000 per week. 

It is appropriate to add here a reference to the extraordinary 
firmness with which Chicago received the shock of the panic of 
1873 — her banks, her merchants, her manufacturers and her people, 
being less disturbed by the general collapse of confidence than those 
of any other great city, east or west. This was due less to any 
superior methods of doing business in Chicago, or any superior 
quality of her business men than to the fact that Chicago held the 
keys to the immense granaries of the West, upon which, more than 
upon anything else, the country depended for relief against "the 
pressure of hard times. Much is due, however, to the conservative 
habits of Chicago business men, and to the correct methods of trade 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

which prevail here, and which are adverted to in the chapter on 
Commerce. 

On page 169 and those following are to be found some calcula- 
tions of the future growth of Chicago, founded upon the elements 
which have entered into her growth in the past and upon the rules 
which may reasonably be expected to apply to her developments 
hereafter. For the consideration of this question, the author 
bespeaks on the part of the reader the same unbiased candor which 
dictated each step of the calculation. 

On pages 183-4 are given briefly some important facts concerning 
the climate of Chicago, and the peculiar equability of temperature 
which prevails about the head of Lake Michigan, giving that favored 
district the winter climate of St. Louis with the summer climate of 
St. Paul. The crowded state of the chapter into which this matter 
is introduced prevented the elaboration, in connection with it, of an 
idea which bears with great force upon the destiny of Chicago — that 
is, the exhilirating effects of her climate. Not to appear extravagant, 
we will put it negatively, and say that the Chicago worker finds 
himself less enervated by the climate of summer and less inconven- 
ienced by that of winter than the worker in any other western city. 
In New Orleans or Memphis, to say nothing of the fear of yellow 
fever or cholera, and the other considerations that drive the well-to- 
do worker out cf the city for two months of every year, or keep him 
out altogether, there is the constantly weakening and wearing effect 
of a long hot summer, which detracts greatly from the nervous 
energy, and indeed the muscular power, whether of brain or limb, of 
every inhabitant, and reduces his annual aggregate of work, often by 
a full half. In St. Louis, the same is true, though in a less degree. 
In Chicago, on the contrary, the maximum of climatic aid to the 
nervous and muscular system seems to be obtained, in the prepon- 
derance of lake breezes which make every summer day (excepting 
an average of three or four in the season) comfortable, instead of 
intolerable and demoralizingly torrid; and the mollifying influence 
of the lake in winter, makes that season a third less long and severe 
than that of the Mississippi river towns which have our mean sum- 
mer temperature. There is no disputing the fact that there is more 
work in a Chicago man, whether he work with his brain or his hands, 
than in one of almost any other locality. Observation confirms the 
fact, and science readily furnishes the reason. 

Though it is hoped that this book will prove of interest and value 



8 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

to the general public, it is expected to be more especially so to 
those who are interested in Chicago lands. Chapters bearing on 
this subject have been elaborated with reference to this end, 
and much effort has been made to present a fuller history than 
has ever before been published of the lands in and about Chicago, 
and the traffic therein. In the preparation of these chapters the 
author has realized that any intentional deviation from the actual 
facts of the case would vitiate the whole, and that consideration, 
if no higher one, has induced a most scrupulous care in respect to 
statements of fact. In the treatment of the suburbs of Chicago, 
it is but proper to remark, the publisher has been guided somewhat 
by patronage in the degree of elaboration to which any particular 
interest is treated ; but the editor has not in any case waived 
his prerogative of preventing exaggeration and securing justice 
to all, the reader being never forgotten. 

With these remarks, and with some reluctant apologies for the 
inevitable consequences of the haste in which some parts of the 
book were put to press, " Chicago and its Suburbs" is respectfully 
submitted to a public which has always manifested an interest, 
usually kind as well as keen, to hear something more about Chicago. 

E. C. 

Chicago, Nov. 16, 1873. 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



c 

PAKT I.— HISTORY. 

PAGE. 

EMBRYONIC CHICAGO, 19 

History of the City from 1820 to 1830. 

A HOPEFUL TOWN, ------- 29 

Little Beginnings of Great Things. 

THE INFANT CITY, ------- 42 

An Eventful Twelve Years, which Included the Dark Times of 1837. 

A NOTE OF ADVANCE, - - - - - . - 53 

The Snort of the Iron Horse. 

A SPLENDID HEAT, - - - - - - - 59 

What Chicago Accomplished Before Taking a Rest in 1837. 

A FEW DOCUMENTS, ------ 67 

Lists and Tables Pertinent to the Foregoing History. 

A FRUITFUL DECADE, ---._. 74 

The Twelve Labors of the Modern Hercules. 

THE GREAT FIRE, ....... 7g 

A Calm Retrospect, with Useful Facts. 

AFTER THE FIRE, --_-___ 86 

What Had to be Done, and How it Was Done. 

THE NEW CHICAGO, - 93 

The Wonderful Reconstruction — Business of a " Ruined " City. 



IO CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

PART II.-- CURRENT RECORD AND DESCRIPTION. 

PAGE. 

RAILROADS OF CHICAGO, ------ TO i 

An Astonishing Exhibit. 

BURDEN OF THE IRON HORSE, ----- m 

What Chicago Gains by its Railroads. 

COMMERCE OF CHICAGO, - - - - - - 119 

Interesting Facts Concerning its Mercantile Jobbing Trade. 

MANUFACTURES OF CHICAGO, ----- 128 

A Remarkably Thrifty Department of Business, Hitherto but Little 
Understood. 

SOME CHICAGO INSTITUTIONS, ----- 144 

Churches, Schools, Libraries, etc. 

BOARD OF TRADE, - - - - - , - 152 

Chicago's Most Representative " Institution." 

CHICAGO'S CHARACTERISTICS, -163 

With Modesty to Lead Off With. 

THE FUTURE OF CHICAGO, - - 169 

A Careful and Candid Calculation. 

THE CAPITAL OF THE INTERIOR, - - - - 177 

Something Further on the Same Subject. 

THE LAY OF THE LAND, 182 

Geography and Topography of Chicago, with some Pregnant Facts about 
Dwelling Lots. 



PART III.- TRACTS AND TITLES. 

THE CHICAGO REAL ESTATE MARKET, - - - 193 

A Checkered and Interesting History. 

LAND TITLES IN CHICAGO, ----- 206 

With Special Attention Given to a History of the Abstract Business. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. II 

PAGE. 

EPISODES OF TRADE, ------ 214 

Great 'Bargains that Might Have Been Had by the Reader, but were 
Snapped Up by Others. 

VALUES OF BUSINESS LAND, - - - • - - 224 

Prices in Chicago and Other Cities Compared — Cheapness of Business 
Lots in Chicago. 

STREETS OF CHICAGO, - - - - 231 

Sketches of the Principal Thoroughfares, with Prices. 

CHICAGO NEWSPAPERS, 261 

A Remarkable Record of Journalistic Success. 



PART IV.-- STATISTICS. 

TABLES SHOWING THE GROWTH OF CHICAGO'S POPULATION, 
WEALTH AND PRODUCE TRADES, - ... 279 

PRESENT VOLUME OF PRODUCE TRADES, AND BY WHAT ROUTES 
IT IS MOVED, 286 

TONNAGE OF THE PORT, AND DIRECT IMPORTATION OF MER- 
CHANDISE, - - -■;.;- . 290 

TOTAL OF BUSINESS FIOUSES IN CHICAGO AND ST. LOUIS, 292 

NATIONAL BANKS, ETC., - - - - - 294 

CHICAGO AS A BORROWER, 295 

PRICES OF CITY REAL ESTATE, 298 



PART V.-- PARKS OF CHICAGO. 

THE SOUTH PARK SYSTEM, - - - - 313 

THE WEST PARK SYSTEM, 325 

CITY PLEASURE GROUNDS, 337 



12 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



PAKT VI.- SUBURBS OF CHICAGO. 

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS (formerly Dunton), 
AUBURN, -.---._ 

AUSTIN, - 1 

CHICAGO & PACIFIC RAILROAD STATIONS, 
CLARENDON HILLS, .... 

CLYDE, 

CORNELL, ...... 

DANBY, 

DOWNER'S GROVE, - 

DESPLAINES, ...... 

ELMHURST, 

ENGLEWOOD, 

EVANSTON, 

GALEWOOD, ...... 

GLENCOE, 

GRAYLAND, 

HAWTHORNE, ..... 

HIGHLAND PARK, - - 

HIGHWOOD, 

HINSDALE, 

HUMBOLDT, ...... 

HYDE PARK, 

IRVING PARK, 

JEFFERSON, 

KELVYN GROVE, 

KENWOOD, 

LAGRANGE, - - - 

LAKE FOREST, 

LAKE VIEW, ..._.. 

LOMBARD, - 

MAPLEWOOD, 

MAYWOOD, 



PAGE. 

455 
402 
424 

439 
421 

412 

357 
433 
422 

453 
432 
398 
378 
436 

39 6 
445 
415 
393 
395 
418 

434 
352 
442 

447 

435 
355 
417 
39 6 
343 
432 

439 

428 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 13 

PAGE. 

MELROSE, - - - 430 

MONT CLARE, 436 

MONTROSE, 446 

MOUNT FOREST, 411 

NORTH EVANSTON, 383 

NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD CAR SHOPS, - - - 422 

NORWOOD PARK, 448 

OAKLAND, - - C 354 

OAK PARK, 426 

OAKWOOD, 369 

PACIFIC, 436 

PALATINE, - - 458 

PARK RIDGE, 451 

PARKSIDE, 357 

RAVENSWOOD, 370 

RIDGELAND, - - -- 425 

RIDGELAWN, - 450 

RIVER FOREST, - - 427 

RIVER PARK, - . . 437 

RIVERSIDE, . 415 

ROGERS' PARK, - - - - . . 374 

ROSEHILL CEMETERY, - - - - - . 371 

SOUTH CHICAGO, 359 

SOUTH ENGLEWOOD, ,------. 403 

SOUTH EVANSTON, - - - .. - . . . . 375 



SOUTH LAWN, 
SOUTH PARK, 



369 
356 



SOUTH SHORE, - - - . . . - 359 

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, - 405 

WILMETTE, - 385 

WINNETKA, 39 o 

WOODLAWN, - ' - . . . . . - 356 




-~J>-^* 



Chicago Water-works, - 

Fort Dearborn in 1850, 

Chicago Post Office and Custom House, 

Unity Church, - 

Chamber of Commerce, - 

View of Chicago River, - 

Palmer House, - 

Field, Leiter & Co.'s Store, 

Springer Block, - - - 

Fine Art Building, - 

Geo. A. Springer's Residence, - 

James Bolton's Residence, 

Edson Keith's Residence, 

Louis Wahl's Residence, - 

Eli Bates' Residence, - 

O. W. Potter's Residence, 

Bachelder Building, ... 

Pacific Hotel, - 

Air Line Elevator, ... 

Sherman House, - 

Colehour Building, 

First Congregational Church, - 

View of Ashland Avenue, 

Samuel J. Walker's Residence, - 

" Tribune" Building, ... 



PAGE. 

Frontispiece. 
16 
98 

- 145 
160 
192 
230 
232 

235 

- 237 
239 
240 
241 

. 242 
244 

- 245 
246 

- 247 
249 

- 251 
252 

- 253 
254 
256 
262 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 15 

PAGB. 

"Times" Building, -------- 266 

"Inter-Ocean" Building, - - - - - 269 

"Staats-Zeitung" Building, - - - - - - 270 

" Evening Journal" Building, ----- 272 

Daniel Goodwin's Residence, Lake View, - 344 

Frank W. Palmer's Residence, Lake View, - 345 

W. C. Goudy's Residence, Lake View, ----- 346 

T. B. Waller's Residence, Lake View, - 347 

J. A. Huck's Residence, Lake 'View, - 348 

S. B. Chase's Residence, Lake View, - 349 

H. G. Spafford's Residence, Lake View, - - - - 350 

N. B. Judd's Residence, Kenwood, - ' - - - - 355 

Cornell Watch Factory, - - - - - - -358 

View of South Chicago Harbor, - 360 

Map of South Chicago, - - - - '- - - 365 

Entrance to Rosehill Cemetery, ----- 372 

Interior View of Rosehill Cemetery, ----- 373 

P. L. Touhy's Residence, Rogers' Park, - - - - 374 

Charles E. Brown's Residence, Evanston, - - - - 380 

Union Church, Wilmette, - - - .- - - 386 

Residence of Asahel Gage, Wilmette, - 387 

Alexander McDaniel's Residence, Wilmette, - - . - 388 

Wilmette Hotel, - - - - - - - - 389 

Winnetka Seminary, - - - - - - .' - 392 

Cook County Normal School Building, - - - - 399 

John Raber's Residence, Englewood, - 400 

South Englewood Depot, ______ 404 

Mount Vernon Academy, ______ 408 

Clyde Depot, - - - - - - - -412 

Union Church, Clyde, ______ 413 

James McKenney's Residence, Clyde, ----- 414 

Maywood Hotel, _______ 429 

Powell Hotel, - . - - - _ - - 440 

W. H. Powell's Residence, -..-'_'___ 441 

Norwood Park Hotel, - - - - - - _ 449 

Ira Brown's Residence, Desplaines, - 454 

•Charles H. Atkins' Residence, Arlington Heights, - - - 457 




Sutler's store. Marine Hospital 
Soldiers' Store- 

quarters, house. 



Com'ding Officer's 
quarters. 



Old U. S. Factor-house. 
Block-house. Light-house Light-house, 
keeper. Ferry. 



FORT DEARBORN IN 1850. 



Our illustration is a most forcible demonstration of the rapid rise of Chicago from a simple 
military stockade to its present colossal proportions. Fort Dearborn in 1850 is faithfully- 
represented in the above cut, and though the background does not show the entire " city 1 ' at 
that time, yet the principal features of the settlement are all visible. The ferry shown in the 
foreground ran from the foot of Cass street, on the north side of the river by the old Lake 
House, and terminated at the fort. The hotel was situated to the right of the light-house. 
The tree visible between the light-keeper's house and the light-house stood outside of the 
stockade, between it and the Government garden, is the spot where, in 1828, the Winne- 
bagoes held a council with Big Foot, chief of the Pottawatomies, and tendered the " war 
wampum belt," as a pledge of their assistance in the massacre of the garrison. The Indians 
had gathered in from all sides to receive their aunual pay from the Government, and concocted 
their interesting plan at that time, as above described. 

The Marine Hospital, completed in 1850, was situated east of and near the stockade. 
Within the fort were the soldiers' quarters, store-house, commanding officer's and land offi- 
cer's quarters, and the block-house. The other buildings were outside. The small building 
east of the block-house is intended to represent the fort barn, but it should have been much 
larger and with an observatory at the roof, and the location is not quite correct. The build- 
ing seen over the roof of the light-keeper's house may be intended for the store of the Ameri- 
can Fur Company. As the city grew up, the buildings were one after another taken down, 
only the Marine Hospital, an imposing structure, remaining until destroyed by the great fire. 




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EMBRYONIC CHICAGO. 



A Parallel Imported from Europe — The Key to Chicago's Development — Origin 
of the Name — A Popular Fallacy Corrected — A Little Something About 
Joliet and other Ancient Frenchmen — Chicago a Graduate of Three States 
and Territories — The First Landlord — Indian Massacres — A Picture of 
Chicago in 1S20-30 — End of the • Ante-Natal Period. 

THERE was a time, not quite pre-historic, when the heart of 
Europe, drained by the Danube, and the great Mediterranean 
region, both already populous, had no connection ; the Bosphorus 
was not yet open, for the control of which nations still contend after 
two thousand years of struggle ; so important is the point of inoscu- 
lation between two great hydrographical systems. 

In North America, the interior River and Lake basins, heading in 
the same plateau, both first dominated by the French, needed only 
a communication of adequate facility to convert them into one in- 
ternal system and the greatest in the world. Near the sources, none 
such was practicable, but in a milder climate, and in the breast of a 
region of extraordinary capacity for a dense population, a portage of 
unknown antiquity was found, by a few miles of which even water 
communication at high flood was possible from the Falls of Niagara 
to the Gulf of Mexico. Near that portage stands Chicago. 

The Situation. — Thus, on general geographical considerations, a 
great city at the most practicable communication of the interior 
water systems was, at any time, before the introduction of railroads, 
at least, a warrantable expectation, when the country should fill up; 
except that no manner of harbor was found for the trade of such a 
place, and the only tract of ground suitably located was a drainless 
bog. The artificial railroad system has since partially remodeled the 
providence of nature, but has not cancelled the truth that this 
ancient portage was the cause of Chicago ; a port naturally destitute 
of every other topographical qualification. All descriptions on this 
agree. At two or three points, the adjacent soil was "a couple of 



20 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

feet " above the water level, but all the rest was down within a few 
inches of it, traversable by canoes during a large part of the year, 
never dry, populous with aquatic creatures, and thick with rank joint- 
grass ; here and there, only, relieved with clumps of graceless jack 
oak, and an occasional dismal pine tree. From this miserable tract, 
a sluggish stream, gathering its waters with difficulty from its num- 
berless pools and miles of mud, with two branches, joined them about 
a mile from the lake, into which it passed over a sand bar, flowing, 
indeed, but only "ten or fifteen yards wide and a few inches deep." 
Yet, this despicable slough was to become a Thames for a 17th cen- 
tury London ! 

The Name. — A popular but superficial writer makes even the 
name " Chicago " an aboriginal memorial of the repulsive site. So 
the phrase of euchre players " sent to Chicago " instead of the 
coarser word " skunked " embodies the same error ; which probably 
arose from the name Skunk having been applied — possibly, in his 
disgust by a single luckless explorer — to the river Checaqua in Iowa, 
without reference to etymology. But philologists recognize the lat- 
ter, through various corruptions, as one of the Indian names of irate 
Deity — the thunder god, much like the Scandinavian Thor. " The 
thunder is his wrath ; the gathering of the black clouds is the draw- 
ing down of Thor's angry brows ; the fire bolt bursting out of 
Heaven is the all-rending hammer flung from the hand of Thor; 
wrathful, he blows his red beard — that is the rustling storm-blast 
before the thunder begins." Such are true associations with the 
name. 

Now, old settlers allege that at a point on a branch called Jackson's 
creek, flowing into the Des Plaines, the soil was continually broken 
by the striking of lightning in early times. A mound, long since 
disappeared, may have been, ages ago, a propitiatory shrine of the 
ancient Mound Builders, by whom many a human victim may have 
been sacrificed to appease the mysterious wrath which ploughed the 
adjacent turf with thunderbolts. In the later day of the Indians, 
this little branch bore the name in question, for the oldest map, 
(Franquelin, 1684,) calls it" Chekagau," while, to what is now known 
as the Chicago river the name therein given is " Cheagoumeinan." 
Doubtless, Jackson's creek was a haunt of the thunder god ; Skunk 
river, in Iowa, perhaps, another. 

But the dignity of the name is placed beyond dispute not only 
by its etymology but by the frequency with which, in the old French 



EXPLORATION OF FRENCH JESUITS. 21 

maps of 1684, 1687, 1688, 1696, etc, the great Mississippi himself 
is called " Chacaqua or Divine River." If the name anciently local- 
ized deific wrath, the apprehensive modern Chicagoan may reflect 
that the stream so designated ran not into the lake, but into the Gulf 
of Mexico as fast as it could. The name seems not to have been 
appropriated at the lake shore until the French built a fort of whose 
early existence under the name of " Fort Checagou," in 1688, we 
learn by the Quebec map of that year; and then the name was prob- 
ably borrowed, not from anyl stream, but from the arrogant chiefs of 
the powerful Tamaroas who, after the manner of the Caesars and the 
Montezumas, bore the name Checaqua as a successive title, import- 
ing the attributes, or perhaps, the exclusive patronage of the neigh- 
borhood deity. In a manuscript brought from Paris by the late Gen- 
eral Cass, dated in 1726, the site of Chicago is called " Chicagoux," 
from which the settler's English tongue quickly dropped all after the 
round vowel. 

The Earliest Discoveries. — Historically, our earliest knowledge of 
this interesting spot was acquired exactly two centuries ago (1673). 
While the zealous Elliot, translator of the Gospel into the Indian 
tongue, was exhausting his missionary zeal six miles west of Boston, 
the French Jesuits had planted stations all about the Upper Lake 
region, but not yet as far south as the head of " Lac des Illinois," as 
they designated Lake Michigan. James Marquette, one of them, 
a man whose history is peculiarly venerable, having heard in detail 
of the Valley of the Mississippi, with his coadjutor, Joliet, set out 
with two canoes and five additional men, on the 17th of May, 1673, 
and by portage by way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, found 
himself in the great river in June. After descending as low as 
Arkansas, when, on his return, he reached the mouth of the Illinois, 
he was attracted by accounts of the interior, and of a better portage 
back to Lake Michigan, and ascended that river. Taking the Des 
Plaines branch, he was able to reach the water-shed, but eight feet 
higher than canoeable waters, crossing which he launched into the 
stream that conducted him to the lake. We do not know how long 
he tarried at the mouth ot that oozy lagoon, between impassable 
fens and the beach, ridged and piled with drifting sands. He 
reached his home station by way of the west shore of the lake, after 
a canoe voyage of 2,500 miles. 

Delighted with his reception in the Illinois Valley, Father Mar- 
quette returned, the next season, to the region of the great portage. 



22 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

and in October, 1674, at a point probably not far from the Bridewell 
grounds of the present day, on the south branch of the creek, he 
erected the first white man's structure on the site of Chicago — a 
dwelling and an altar. Here he wintered; shooting buffalo, deer, 
turkeys, etc., from his door. In the following May, from toil, expos- 
ure, and original infirmity, he perished on the shore of the lake, the 
savages, by every affecting token, testifying their gratitude and their 
grief. 

French Occupation. — These missionaries and others continued their 
explorations, among whom La Salle and Hennepin are conspicuous. 
In 1 68 1 the former first passed over the portage, and by 1684 good 
maps, still extant, exhibit the whole district; that of 1688 showing 
that the lake end of the communication with Louisiana was made a 
military post, as before mentioned, under the name of Fort Checagou, a 
point thenceforth of importance to the religious propogandists, traders 
and adventurers throughout, from Canada to Florida. The map of 
1696, by Le Sieur Sanson, Geographer to the King, is significant on 
this point. Thus, probably with little local change, two generations 
passed away, when, if not before, the fort was abandoned, and the 
region about it remitted to its aboriginal status, under the cession of 
Canada to the English, in 1763, by the treaty of Fontainbleau, after 
the conquest of Wolfe. Thus terminates a stage of Chicago's his- 
tory with which it has no connection but local identity, so completely 
seems the white man's influence to have disappeared for another 
generation or more. 

Chicago in the " Old Dominion" — Meantime opulent and populous 
colonies on the Atlantic were extending apace, beginning to look 
westward from the summits of the Alleghanies, and ripening for 
national independence. Fort Chicagoux, at most, had been but a 
French outpost within that great region bounded by the Ohio river, 
the Mississippi and the lakes, to which neither England nor France 
had ever made other than indefinite and technical claim, afterwards 
known as the Northwest Territory. In this condition, the whole 
region, including the site of Chicago, was annexed to Virginia by 
right of conquest, after the success of her own military expedition 
against the Indians and French emissaries and squatters at Kaskaskia 
in 1774, under George Rogers Clark. 

If during the Revolutionary epoch great deeds were hallowing 
Virginia territory, Chicago stands on " sacred soil " as much as Rich- 
mond; for over these prairies (on which, in those days, we have no 



"ILLINOIS COUNTY, VIRGINIA." 23 

tradition of civilized presence) the process of a Virginia court was 
as valid as at Williamsburg, her capital, the whole Northwest Terri- 
tory, including part of Wisconsin and of Michigan, and all the states 
of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, having, in 1778, been erected into the 
* l County of Illinois in the State of Virginia." 

Under Good Training. — After peace with Great Britain, the cele- 
brated compact was made between Virginia and the United States, 
whereby the former, first stipulating for perpetual freedom of con- 
science and the press, for t^he perpetual prohibition of slavery and 
involuntary servitude, and for the admission of prospective new 
states on an equal footing with the old, divided herself by the Ohio 
river, and ceded all the rest to the United States for the " common 
benefit of all the people." Upon these enlightened principles, the 
great Ordinance of 1787 was enacted. Finally the Constitution of 
the United States, in 1789, was adopted, making " a more perfect 
union." Thus, fwith the later additions of land grants for schools 
and internal improvements, arose the peculiarly American system of 
territorial pupilage and state enfranchisement, of the beneficence of 
which the city of Chicago is the most brilliant illustration. Nor should 
it seem strange that the system issued from Virginia; that, in fact, 
the magnificent West now should be but the realization of her hopes, 
and the fruit of her plans ; for at that day, pro-slavery, as a doctrine, 
was unborn, and great enterprises were rifest in Virginia. Vast 
schemes of internal communication, organic trade, territorial expan- 
sion etc., were boldly projected, against all the maxims of Poor Rich- 
ard, accurately reflecting the then spirit of New England thrift. 
The possibility of reversing the world's course of trade, and supply- 
ing Europe with the silks and teas of Asia over this continent, by 
many thought to be only delayed by the Suez Canal, is accepted now 
as the boldest commercial aspiration of the age. Yet, in fact, a 
hundred and twenty years before Congress endowed the Pacific rail- 
road, Virginians discussed the notion with London correspondents. 
But, after the adoption of the federal constitution, this spirit was 
rapidly supplanted by doctrinal abstractions superinduced by mutual 
sectional jealousy, afterwards distorted into madness by the rise of 
the cotton interest. Had it continued, a Virginia Clinton would 
have been sustained in the then long-projected canal across the 
Alleghanies, New York might have been at Norfolk, and Chicago 
at Cairo. 

"Big Windy — During the Indian campaigns of St. Clair and 



24 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Wayne, under Washington's administration, the Chicago portage, 
perhaps, saw no white man but an occasional British emissary. In 
the Treaty of Greenville, Ohio, 1795, where deputed chiefs from all 
the powerful north-western tribes assembled, after the exploits of 
"Big Wind," as they called General Wayne, to bury the hatchet, 
there is a clause providing for the abandonment, in favor of the 
United States, of "one piece of land, six miles square, at the mouth 
of the Chekajo river, emptying into the south-west end of Lake 
Michigan, where a fort formerly stood" — evidently the old French 
fort. This extinguishment of Indian title, in 1795, being in the na- 
ture of a quit-claim deed for lands, is sometimes called the earliest 
" real estate transaction " in Chicago. But in a more practical sense,, 
the next year witnessed the first private appropriation of land, which 
never afterwards reverted. 

The Original Landlord. — Jean Baptiste Point au Sable, a negro, at 
some point in the neighborhood of Dearborn and Water streets, then 
north of the river, in 1796 built a rude hut and claimed a surround- 
ing tract. It is believed that no other civilized person frequented 
the vicinity, though the fur trade, afterwards so considerable, was at 
that time gathering Indians and traders. A Frenchman named Le 
Mai, a trader, succeeded him in his dwelling and claim, who, after 
several years' occupation, sold in turn to a man subsequently of con- 
siderable note in the settlement, John Kinzie, residing then with his 
family at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, on the eastern shore of 
the lake, now in Michigan. He was agent of Astor's celebrated 
American Fur Company. His son, John H. Kinzie, then a child, 
was afterwards a distinguished citizen of Chicago. Kinzie held pos- 
session of the claim, but did not bring his family to it for a time. 

Fort Dearborn Established. — In 1803, the acquisition of Louisiana 
refreshed all manner of western enterprises, and redoubled President 
Jefferson's zeal for trans-Mississippi exploration. The activity of 
British intrigue rendered the Indians threatening. Under all these 
circumstances, the government established Fort Dearborn, probably 
on the exact site of the old French structure, and garrisoned it with 
fifty men and three pieces of artillery. The little schooner " Tracy" 
bringing this force is the earliest known marine arrival at Chicago.. 
Kinzie thereupon brought his family, for whom he had developed 
the original hut into a comfortable home — the first family domicile 
in the place. This was in 1804. The same year, Captains Lewis, 
and Clarke were sent by the government upon their celebrated ex- 
pedition across the Rocky Mountains. 



CHICAGO WHILE IN WISCONSIN. 25 

John H. Kinzie remembers being taught his letters in his father's 
log hut, in the winter of 1810, by Robert A. Forsythe, the boy being 
then under seven years old. For the sake of an initial date for edu- 
cation in Chicago, this act of tuition has generally been treated as 
the earliest schooling. In 1820, a school was conducted by a soldier 
from the fort; and earlier than this, viz., in 1816, William L. Cox, a 
soldier, had conducted a school in a little hut originally made for a 
bake-house during the former occupation of the fort, situated at 
what is now the corner of Michigan and Pine streets. The Kinzie 
children, including two girls, and three or four children of soldiers, 
constituted his little charge. 

Chicago in Wisconsin. — Meantime, emigration, partially retarded 
hitherto by the Indian war, pressed west in an unprecedented tide 
after the peace of 1795 at Greenville. In the south at various 
places it had reached the Mississippi, in the north, it was bordering 
Lake Erie, while the great Ohio valley was filling from end to end, 
and Southern Illinois was getting populous. Kentucky had entered 
the Union in 1792, Tennessee in 1796, and Ohio in 1802, and in 
1809 a territorial government was established for Illinois, of which 
the northern boundary was a line due west from the southernmost end 
of Lake Michigan. Thus, at that date, Chicago was in Wisconsin. 
The powerful influence at a later day of Southern Illinois, settled 
mostly from Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, both in the 
State Legislature and in Congress, might not have been tributary to 
a place under another jurisdiction ; thus it is no idle reflection that 
Chicago made a narrow escape, when, in 1815, Mr. Nathaniel Pope r 
Territorial Delegate from Illinois, induced Congress to make latitude 
42 ° 30' the boundary line, thereby including in Illinois the ports of 
Chicago, Waukegan and Calumet. But, to return to an earlier date. 

Trouble with Indians. — The Indians, crowded by immigrants, and 
seduced by the British during the first five years of this century,. 
were everywhere growing disaffected, though the now extensive and 
lucrative trade in peltries had kept up in the neighborhood of Fort 
Dearborn a footing of good will. At this time, with scores of trad- 
ers, perhaps no family except Kinzie's resided outside the fort. 
On the 7 th of April, 181 2, a few weeks before the declaration of war 
against Great Britain (18th June) a large body of Indians assailed an 
outlying house, slaying and scalping its occupant. They approached 
the fort, but made no attack. Whites outside of the fort suffered, 
depredations for some time, when it was determined by the govern- 
ment to abandon the post, then commanded by Captain Heald. The 



26 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

matter was greatly mismanaged. Accounts differ not only as to the 
responsibility, but as to the most important facts. On the 12th of 
August, 1812, a parley resulted in a promise of safe escort to Fort 
Wayne in consideration of the delivery of the fort, ammunition and 
all contents, to plunder. On the advice of Kinzie, the extra ammu- 
nition and arms were destroyed, and whiskey, present in great quan- 
tity, poured into the river, from which the Indians eagerly drank. 
On a day following, the goods were distributed, but the Pottawata- 
mies, especially, aggrieved by the loss of the arms and whiskey, were 
very unfriendly. On the 15 th, the military, of uncertain number, 
under a hundred, with a baggage wagon in which were twelve chil- 
dren, and accompanied by all the white people of the settlement, set 
out, but were ambuscaded within a few miles by great numbers of 
Indians. A fierce encounter ensued. By one account, two women, 
twelve citizens, and twenty-six soldiers were slain, while the wretched 
children were tomahawked in the wagon off the field — in all, fifty- 
two ; there remaining, twenty-eight soldiers, including Captain Heald, 
besides civilians. The Indians granted them their lives, upon sur- 
rendering, and all were brought back to the fort where they .remained 
prisoners until ultimately ransomed. Mr. Kinzie's family do not 
seem to have been in the melee. No surgeon being in reach, Mr* 
Kinzie serviceably operated with his pen-knife. The fort was des- 
troyed and the country once more given back to the savages, by 
whom Chicago's first white natives had been thus slain in their 
infancy, 15th August, 1812. 

Her Destiny Foreshadowed. — Such again was the utter vacancy of 
the southwest shore of Lake Michigan when, upon high considera- 
tions both of national defence and of the geographical significance 
of the ancient portage, in 1814, President Madison, in a message 
to Congress, recommended a ship canal connecting the waters of the 
Illinois River and Lake Michigan. Appropriate committees in Con- 
gress all reported favorably upon it, that of Rivers and Harbors, of 
the House, characterizing it as " the great work of the age." From 
thenceforward, till the opening of the canal in 1848, the project 
was fostered by the State Legislature, by Congress, and by enlight- 
ened public opinion throughout the country. 

In 1816, for the third time, the white man came to Chicago. Not 
only was the peltry trade of the upper lake region worth protecting, 
but the restive Indians, incited by British agents, necessitated a sen- 
tinel in their midst. The fort, therefore, was rebuilt, under the 



CHICAGO IN l8l8. 27 

direction of Capt. Bradley, and garrisoned with two companies. It 
became immediately a rallying point for traders. The supplies for 
the garrison came from Green Bay, annually or semi-annually, in a 
schooner of forty tons, owned by the American Fur Company, or 
by Mr. Astor. This was the only water-craft, except canoes, known 
to the infant port. There is no evidence that a single actual settler 
was on the ground for over a year after the re-occupation began. 
There were, however, many civilians always at the fort. But the 
massacre of 181 2, and the Indian participation in the war with the 
British, restricted confidence to what little may be implied in active 
chaffering with the Indians. Kinzie, after some time, seems to have 
been the first settler again, reclaiming his old home, from which he 
was never more driven. In 1818, the State of Illinois was admitted 
into the Union. 

An Early Photograph. — At that date, we have a tolerable glimpse 
of the place. Mr. Gurdon S. Hubbard, still living in Chicago, then 
agent of the American Fur Company, accompanied the supply 
schooner in 1818. He found the Kinzie family north of the river on 
a spot by which Michigan Avenue now passes ; and Antoine Ouil- 
imette, residing, with an Indian wife, about the space of two blocks 
westward of Kinzie. These were all. A third, J. B. Beaubien, 
settled shortly afterwards ; but there does not appear to have been a 
fourth until Archibald Clyburne settled on the north branch, about 
three miles from the fort, in 1823. During the first year of this re- 
occupation (1816), Colonel Long, of the U.S. Topographical Engin- 
eers, visited the fort, in a tour of exploration. He again visited the 
place in 1823. His later report grows gloomy, when he speaks of 
Chicago with its three log cabins, presenting no cheering prospects, 
and " inhabited by a miserable race of men scarcely equal to the In- 
dians from whom they had descended," with houses "low, filthy, and 
disgusting, displaying not the least trace of comfort." Such a place 
" affords no inducement to the settler, the whole amount of trade on 
the lake not exceeding the cargoes of five or six schooners, even at 
the time when the garrison received its supplies from the Mackinac." 
He found the Chicago River entering the lake at a point now cor- 
responding with the foot of Madison Street, reaching it by a south- 
ward bend, where now art has long obliterated all traces of its chan- 
nel, substituting one in a straight line several blocks northward. 

In 1828, Indian hostility threatened a general attack on the settle- 
ments; but after the murder of a few immigrants, a large volunteer 



28 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

force added to the regulars at Fort Dearborn and Fort Armstrong 
(at Rock Island), overawed the savages for the time. 

The peltry trade continued active at Fort Dearborn, but the site of 
Chicago was still a wilderness, though for three years the great Erie 
Canal had been opened to Buffalo (1825); Baltimore had organized 
the enterprise of a railroad to the Ohio River (1828); Congress had 
three times legislated for opening the portage for water-craft between 
the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi basins, calculated to necessi- 
tate a city at the mouth of the Chicago River; the Legislature of 
Illinois had provided the requisite practical measures, and such a 
canal had become the settled policy of the nation and of the state, 
enjoying the countenance of the ablest commercial and political 
sagacity of the times. Yet, amongst the few occupants, there does 
not seem to have been the slightest appreciation of these great mea- 
sures until, in 1829, Mr. James Thompson, under authority of the 
State, arrived at the fort with the purpose of making an official sur- 
vey of the site. His map, which is the earliest of Chicago, is dated 
4th August, 1830. 

Chicago in 1830. — Surveyor Thompson found seven families only,, 
outside of the fort. These distributed themselves between the three 
natural divisions of the ground. Clyburne was the butcher for the 
garrison. Dr. WolcOtt was the United States Indian Agent. John 
Miller kept a log tavern near the junction of the branches, and Kin- 
zie was yet in the fur trade, as were all the rest not named. Billy 
Caldwell, a conciliated Indian chief, was garrison interpreter. It is 
probable that no mechanical employments were carried on outside 
of the fort, and there is no mention of a store for the sale of mer- 
chandise. With patches of precarious garden in the dryer spots 
here and there, undoubtedly the miserable population procured all 
purchasable necessaries from the fort, to which they were brought 
from Green Bay by the American Fur Company ; and for the means 
of payment depended upon the profits of traffic with the Indians. 

The First Map. — In Mr. Thompson's map, the city boundaries- 
are laid down as State Street to Desplaines, and Kinzie to Madison, 
embracing an area of about three-eighths of a square mile, the tract 
on which the fort stood, from State Street east to the lake, continu- 
ing long afterwards a government reservation. Such was Chicago 
when its incredulous witnesses saw the first local steps taken for its 
development, or rather, its institution; for it has been said that even 
"up to 1852, nobody residing in Chicago considered himself perma- 
nently settled." 



A HOPEFUL TOWN 



Chicago from 1830 to 1836 — An Eventful Six Years — The Struggle for a Canal — 
Chicago the Natural Outlet of the Mississippi Water Route — Genesis of 
Greatness — Primitive Public Works — The First Harbor Appropriation — In- 
corporated as a town — A Snug Little Poll List — The Expansive Period in 
American Enterprise — How it Affected Chicago — Pure Speculation vs. Busi- 
ness Calculation — A Demoralized Treasurer — Sacrifice of the Wharfing 
Privileges. 



THE arrival of an official with authority to locate a town by 
survey and appropriation of public land, marks a point of such 
extreme contrast between the antecedent and subsequent few years, 
that it may almost be taken as the first event in the chronology of 
Chicago. 

A?i Eventful Six Years. — The next six years were to witness the 
establishment of a post office, a land office, a newspaper, the erection 
of a county, the incorporation of a town, the short-sighted sale of the 
school lands and of the wharf rights to individuals, the institution 
of religious societies, an Indian war, defeat and final expulsion, the 
first work on the harbor, the arrival within the Chicago river of the 
first vessel to cross the bar, the beginning of the packing trade, the 
institution of a stage line to the interior, the erection of rudimental 
draw-bridges, the access of an immense immigration, and a season 
of land and lot speculation of the utmost extravagance ; all in 
advance of the first actual work done on the canal. 

Chicago the Commercial Outlet of the Mississippi. — We have seen 
with what favor the United States entertained the great idea of con- 
necting the River and Lake systems. The Legislature of Illinois 
was equally zealous, and upon this, a remark seems appropriate. 

The population of Illinois, almost wholly in the south part of the 
State, provided, as they were by nature, with the amplest water 
routes southward, exhibited even at that day a marked and steady 
preference for a route to the sea through the northern lakes. This 



3<D CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

is the more significant since the rigors of the lake climate were nat- 
urally repulsive both to them and their ancestors, issuing mostly 
from the Southern States. Yet, a lake market for their produce 
undoubtedly became an object to the Illinois farmers at a time when 
a boreal wilderness, half the length of the State, still lay between. 
The early energy and the spontaneity of this preference tend most 
impressively to countenance the opinion of some at the present day 
that, by a ship canal, consummately ample, Chicago is destined to be 
the commercial mouth of the Mississippi and its great tributaries, 
when, as all now concede, density of population shall necessitate, 
besides every railroad appliance, whatever water facilities nature has 
given. 

An Old Fashioned Land Grant. — Congress on the 30th of March, 
1822, granted the right of way and engaged, not to grant, but 
merely to withhold from private appropriation, so much land as lay 
within ninety feet each side of the route for the canal ; all subject to 
stringent conditions. With such caution, even for objects confess- 
edly of national defence, did the national legislature approach the 
land grant system in aid of improvements. We have seen of late 
years, for a single measure, to this day, of questionable general expe- 
diency, an estate granted to a private corporation in fee simple equal 
in area to the whole territory of France. 

The Canal — False Starts. — The Legislature of Illinois, in pur- 
suance of the act of Congress, constituted a "Board of Inspectors," 
by act of 14th of February, 1823, for the work of preliminary sur- 
veys, which they performed and reported in 1824. The Board con- 
sisted of Emanuel J. West, Erastus Brown, Theopilus W. Smith, 
Thomas S. Sloo, Jun., and Samuel Alexander. But there seem to 
have been wide differences of opinion, which, with other local causes, 
retarded the enterprise. 

On the 1 8th of January, 1825, the Legislature granted a charter to 
the " Illinois and Michigan Canal Company," with a capital of one 
million. But that scheme was abortive, and the charter was ulti- 
mately repealed. 

A Move that Meant Business. — On the 2d of March, 1827, the first 
effectual step was taken. This was the Congressional land grant, the 
first considerable one ever made by Congress for internal improve- 
ments. The title of the lands was vested in the State, with the right 
to convey at once, but with the obligation to pay the United States 
the legal price of all tracts sold, unless within five years the canal 



COOK COUNTY ORGANIZED. 31 

should be begun, and within twenty years, finished. The quantity 
was, every alternate section within six miles on each side of the 
canal. 

Under this grant, the Legislature, on the 2 2d of January, 1829, 
constituted a Board of Commissioners with large powers and onerous 
duties. The Board under this act was empowered to select and 
locate the granted lands ; to locate, survey and plat town-sites ; to 
sell lands and town lots, and to appoint engineers, surveyors, etc. 
After their surveyor, Mr. Thompson, had rudely platted a town at 
the mouth of the Chicago river, as before mentioned, power was given 
the Board, 15th of February, 1831, to donate lots for seats of justice. 

The Day of Small Things. — As yet at Chicago there was neither 
town nor county organization, and it is believed that all the land now 
within the city limits was worth less than $25,000. But these meas- 
ures were attracting hundreds of immigrants, and though few would 
consent to remain, yet the sparse assemblage of fur-traders, tavern- 
keepers and garrison employees, began to receive relatively large 
accessions to their numbers. On the 4th of March, 1831, a new 
county, in which were included the present counties of Lake, DuPage, 
McHenry, Will and Iroquois, was erected with the seat of justice at 
Chicago, and in grateful acknowledgment of his services in further- 
ing the canal project while a Representative in Congress, called after 
Mr. Daniel P. Cook. A tract of ten acres, including the public 
square whereon the court house stands in Chicago, was, with other 
small parcels, donated for public uses to the County of Cook. The 
office of Commissioner of School Lands was created, and Mr. R. J. 
Hamilton appointed. County Commissioners, with powers in their 
nature legislative, judicial and executive, were constituted, who held 
their sessions in the fort. Their duties were important, and they 
seem upon the whole to have deserved well of their neighbors. A 
curious record shows their early and just interference to protect 
strangers from extortion by tavern-keepers, who were prohibited from 
charging more than 12% cents for a night's lodging, or a half pint of 
whiskey ; or more than 25 cents for a breakfast, a supper, a half pint 
of brandy, of wine or of rum ; all, articles of then equally unques- 
tioned necessity to a traveler. 

Primitive Public Works. — During the summer of 1831, the garri- 
son was ordered elsewhere, which, though depriving the settlers of 
protection, rendered the fort available for the entertainment of the 
excess of immigrants, soon swelling to hundreds, and much surpass- 



32 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

ing the building accommodation of the place. During this season, 
besides the vessel which carried away the garrison, there were two 
regular arrivals, the " Telegraph " from Ashtabula, Ohio, with immi- 
grants and goods, and the" Marengo," of Detroit, Michigan. Cross- 
ing the river with teams, became now so frequent a necessity, that 
Mark Beaubien, in consideration of a right of toll upon non-resi- 
dents, gave a bond of $200 to carry free all residents of Cook County 
by his ferry, the first established. It was at the forks and across both 
branches of the stream. He used a scow costing him $65. Shortly 
afterwards bridges were found indispensable. The first one crossed 
the north branch at Water street, and is believed to have been little 
more than a mass of loose debris from the woods cast into the stream 
and overlaid with logs and soil. The second bridge, costing $486.20, 
raised by subscription, of which the wretched Pottawatamie Indians 
contributed $200, must have been a respectable work. It .crossed 
the south branch midway between Randolph and Lake streets. 
Probably there were other primitive bridges, as an ordinance as early 
as 1833 was in force prohibiting their spoliation for fire wood. 

Early Settlers, etc. — More taverns were started, making the whole 
number in 183 [ seven, though as yet no house had been built expressly 
for an inn. Immigrants increasing and the time approaching for the 
Indians to assemble for their annuities, an ineffectual effort was made 
to procure a small detachment of troops. Among new settlers in 
183 1 were George W. Dole, R. A. Kinzie, P. F. W. Peck, Dr. Har- 
mon, Mark Beaubien, and Russell E. Heacock, the latter on the 
north branch, some miles from the fort ; all men of subsequent note. 

The winter was uncommonly severe, and to its rigors were added 
the growing hostility of the Indians, and the rapacity of the prairie 
wolves. About four hundred immigrants were quartering in the fort 
when cold weather set in, and, ere long, all the rest of the inhabit- 
ants came; so that, during the winter of 183 1-2, in a sense more lit- 
eral than that of Victor Hugo's celebrated phrase, civilization was a 
prisoner in Fort Dearborn. A hardy half-breed, for a liberal price, 
once in a fortnight, penetrated to Niles, Michigan, on foot, for news- 
papers and letters; and for all the rest, the huddled refugees de- 
pended on each other. The episodes of this hard winter and the 
subsequent summer, which are recorded in the historical work of 
Messrs. Colbert & Chamberlin, included much suffering and priva- 
tion, some Indian fighting, and finally the arrival of General Scott, 
with plenty of reinforcements and — cholera. 



GENERAL SCOTT AND THE HARBOR. 33 

The First Harbor Appropriation. — This arrival of the celebrated 
general, however, is regarded as an event of importance, since upon 
the observations taken by the stately and magnificent Scott, while 
a guest at John Miller's low, narrow, log tavern at Wolf's Point, 
where the two branches of the Chicago River join, he founded 
a definite and emphatic opinion of the future of the fort. That 
opinion, afterwards delivered at Washington, is said to have 
superinduced the first appropriation for the improvement of 
Chicago harbor, $30,000, in 1833. He had come in the United 
States transport "Sheldon Thompson," a steamboat, necessarily 
stopped outside by the bar. This was the first steam craft ever at 
the port of Chicago. Thus, in every way, circumstances bore on the 
harbor question, and but for the Black Hawk war, possibly Chicago 
might have remained a hamlet until the canal was opened in 1848. 

It was thus early (1832) that the great packing trade began in Chi- 
cago. Mr. George W. Dole having visited the Wabash settlements, 
brought back with him five hundred cattle that he had bought at 
$2.75 per hundred, live weight, and three hundred and fifty hogs, at 
$3.00 per hundred; erected a frame house — by some said to have 
been the first structure of the kind in the place — where he slaught- 
ered these animals, and packed the meat. Having at first no barrels, 
it was stored in bulk, while the barrels were making, during the 
winter. In the spring, he shipped it to Detroit. 

Religious Beginnings. — It is a proof of the extreme humility of 
those hopes which yet made many of these settlers active and ar- 
dent, that between "Wolf's Point" and the "fort," distant little over 
half a mile, an intense jealousy arose, as if it was not possible for 
both to flourish ! At the former, the Rev. Jesse Walker, a Metho- 
dist missionary, erected a hut for religious uses; while, at the fort, 
the Rev. Jeremiah Porter, attached to the military post of Green 
Bay as chaplain, with Captain Johnson and Philo Carpenter, estab- 
lished the first Sunday School. Happily, this rivalry was of the 
most generous and salutary effect. Mr. John S. Wright, residing yet 
in Chicago, gives the following account of a year or two later: 

' Rev. Jeremiah Porter had organized the first Presbyterian 
Church of all the North- West, except that of the excellent Father 
Kent, at Galena, on the 26th June, 1833 — with twenty-five mem- 
bers, sixteen of them belonging to the fort, where services were held 
until Mr. Peck's loft was habitable; when, without plastering, the 
front part was used as our church, and the rear, separated by a cur- 
3 



34 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

tain, was the sleeping apartment of Messrs. Peck and Porter, and 
the latter's study. Here, too, we gathered the little urchins, mostly 
French and half-breeds, in the Sunday School. * How I 

would like to pursue the subject, and speak of the excellent Metho- 
dist, Baptist and Episcopal co-laborers in this holy work ! There 
was no denominational division. We met in each others' churches, 
as was most convenient; and the Christian unity and love with 
which God started this embryo city has been one of its most influ- 
ential means of advancement." 

The Rev. Mr. Schaeffer, Roman Catholic, also planted a congre- 
gation in the year 1833. 

The First Schools. — The first building expressly provided for 
school purposes is said to have stood on the north bank of the 
main river, a little east of Clark Street, where it had been built by 
Colonel Hamilton, commandant at the fort, and Mr. Owen, United 
States Indian Agent, in 1833, for Mr. John Watkins, a teacher, who 
had been acting for a year previous as private tutor for their 
children. 

In the fall of the same year (1833), Miss Eliza Chappell, after- 
wards the wife of the Rev. Jeremiah Porter, opened a school near 
the fort, on South Water Street, where she collected in her little hut 
about twenty pupils. Meantime, the Baptist Church building, near 
the corner of South Water and Franklin Streets, being the most 
commodious yet erected, a scholarly Bostonian, Mr. G. T. Sproat, 
was permitted to use it for an ■ ■ English and Classical School for 
Boys," which seems to have been speedily patronized. He subse- 
quently engaged Miss Sarah L.Warren as assistant. Mr. Sproat, 
after some time, disappears from the scene. 

At this time the square mile, bounded by State and Halsted, Madi- 
son and 12th Streets, was "school land,'.' which ground at the pre- 
sent day is worth fully fifty millions of dollars. Even thus early, its 
value was not inconsiderable. But with striking rashness, if not as 
a malversation, after reserving a small parcel to the city, all the rest 
of this tract was sold, 21st October, 1833, on liberal credit, for %$%,- 
865. For forty years this folly has been depfored. 

Growing Like a Weed. — But important events multiply. A Mr. 
Bailey seems to have kept a kind of unofficial post office; but in 
1833, Mr. John S. C. Hogan was duly appointed postmaster of Chi- 
cago. The only mail was by a weekly horseman from Niles, Michi- 
gan. For the convenience of such citizens as received the most 



INCORPORATED AS A TOWN. 35 

considerable mail, it is said Mr. Hogan nailed up on the wall a row 
of old boots, properly appropriated, serving as mail boxes. Work 
began on the harbor; a brick building was erected on the corner of 
North Water and State Streets; a second ferry was established; the 
schooner "Illinois" entered the river at its new mouth, vessels pre- 
viously having stopped without the bar — now removed by harbor 
excavation, dredging, and a timely freshet; a bear and wolf hunt 
within and adjacent to the town limits was a memorable frolic ; a 
clumsy structure in the nature <i)f a drawbridge was erected at Dear- 
born Street; provision was made for cholera hospitals; a board of 
health organized; the first fire of Chicago is recorded; a town well 
was dug; the Green Tree, the first — and afterwards, the Tremont — 
hotel, erected expressly for the purpose ; rnore than two hundred 
frame buildings erected; a jail, which stood on the Court House 
Square until 1853, was built of logs; a treaty was made by the gov- 
ernment with the Pottowattomies, in a tent on the North Side, by 
which they ceded all their lands in Illinois and Wisconsin, some 20,- 
000,000 acres, at about six cents per acre, afterwards indulging in a 
prolonged brawl and debauch, during which inhabitants, without 
shame, stole enormous quantities of their goods; a road was sur- 
veyed connecting with the southern settlements, and stage commu- 
nication opened to Ottawa; and a most important event, a news- 
paper, " The Democrat," by John Calhoun, established, all before 
the end of 1834. 

Incorporated as a Town. — But of all, the chief event was the 
incorporation of the town of Chicago. August 5, 1833, a public 
meeting, and on the 10th, in pursuance of the statute, an election, 
were held, at the house of the ferryman, Mark Beaubien. Russell E. 
Heacock, whose residence was out of all probable corporate limits, 
voted no; but all the rest, consisting, however, of but eleven voters, 
favored the town. E. S. Kimberly, J. B. Beaubien, Mark Beaubien, 
T. J. V. Owen, William Nixon, Hiram Pearsons, Philo Carpenter, 
George Chapman, John S. Wright, John T. Temple, Matthias 
Smith, David Carver, James Kinzie, Charles Taylor, J. S. C. Hogan, 
Eli H. Rider, Dexter J. Hapgood, G. W. Snow, Madore Beaubien, 
Gholson Kercheval, G. W. Dole, R. J. Hamilton, Stephen F. Gale, 
Enoch Darling, W. R. Adams, C. A. Ballard, John Watkins, and 
James Gilbert, in all twenty-eight citizens, made a list of voters later 
in the same year, most of whom seem not yet to have been eligible 
when the election was held. 



36 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Mr. Owen, who had been the United States Commissioner for 
negotiating with the Indians, was made President of the Board of 
Town Trustees. 

Their earliest ordinances are suggestive. The principal subjects 
were, shooting in town ; pigs at large ; stove-pipes protruding 
through board walls or roofs; street horse-racing; exhibiting stal- 
lions violative of decency; dead animals in the river; lumber 
loosely piled in streets ; stealing the timber of bridges for fuel, etc. 
They appointed a street commissioner ; fire warden, the first fire hav- 
ing been experienced ; a collector, etc. This simple code is tradi- 
tionally known as the "Ten Commandments." 

Total Valuation, $20,000. — At this time, it appears that the town 
area was about 560 acres, with perhaps an inhabitant to an acre, 
occupying 175 buildings besides the fort, the whole taxable value of 
property being put down at less than $20,000, the assessment for the 
first year being for the sum of $48.90. When the tow r n was a year 
old, $60 were borrowed for "opening and improving streets." Dur- 
ing the autumn of 1833, immigration much increased, and the spec- 
ulative spirit began to rise. 

Early Institutions. — The "Democrat" was first issued on the 26th 
November, 1833, beginning its career with zealous advocacy of the 
great canal work, and other enterprises. The first stage-coach was 
driven through to Ottawa in March, 1834, by John D. Caton, after- 
wards Chief Justice of Illinois, who took the reins when a sudden 
and terrific storm disabled the driver with cold. 

Notable Improvements. — Before 1834, hardly a building stood 
within the south division devoted to business. In that year, Mr. 
Thomas Church boldly erected a store on Lake Street, soon followed 
by many more. In those days, Ira Couch conducted the Tremont 
Hotel, from whose front steps loungers could shoot ducks on the 
river or in the slough before the door. This building stood till 
1839. Mark Beaubien's ferry, and another at Dearborn Street, were 
still the only public communication over the main river. A bridge, 
however, was soon built at Dearborn Street. But through sheer 
jealousy between the people of the north and the south sides, this 
connection was matter of irritation. After a year or two, the Coun- 
cil ordered it taken down and re-erected at Clark Street. There it 
remained till it gave place to a new structure in 1840. 

A land Office Business. — A land office for the sale of the public 
lands in the Northern District of Illinois was established at Chicago, 



RISE OF WESTERN ENTERPRISE. 37 

1st of June, 1835 : Register, E. D. Taylor; Receiver, James Whitlock. 
This was an important event. Hitherto, except canal and school 
lands, none in the vicinity could be legally appropriated. There 
were no preemption laws in those days, and usage was the squatter's 
sufficient protection. Immigrants intending to settle in any part of 
the district had to buy at the Chicago land office; and the conse- 
quence was, an immediate and immense influx of people wishing to 
enter lands. Unattractive as was the Chicago settlement, its com- 
petitors were few, and of the 370,000 acres entered up in December, 
comparatively little was located far out of its vicinity. This extra- 
ordinary rush inevitably deranged the settlement, in which symp- 
toms of a speculative mania had already appeared. 

Breeding Disaster. - — The prospect that the last Indian would 
soon follow the setting sun beyond the Mississippi ; the splendid 
success of the New York Erie Canal ; the wonderful swiftness of 
Ohio development ; the general introduction of steam navigation ; 
and above all, the approach of the railroad epoch in the country at 
large, made the middle of President Jackson's administration a time 
of general impatience at old-fashioned ways and slow profits. The 
sense of a control over the lines of commercial communication, by 
means of railroads, imparted to hypothetical cities a substance and 
reality hitherto unknown in the world — except when Sardanapalus, 
the sportive Assyrian monarch, built a city in a day, or when Solo- 
mon ordained that pillared Tadmor should rise in the desert, a rest- 
ing place for caravans. Whence, in contracting for a piece of ground, 
in any western locality, its future eligibility was often discounted in 
the present with a license as lawless as lunacy. Productive capacity 
ceasing to control valuation, it came inevitably to pass that nothing 
had a legitimate price. This spirit, afterwards aided by an abundant 
and irresponsible currency, went on until the general crash of 1837. 
Our business at present is with its incipiency. 

Going it Blind. — The Legislature of Illinois, forgetting their func- 
tions of conserving an infant society by timely measures of practical 
exepediency, were attempting to execute the ideas of the next gener- 
ation. Projects for thousands of miles of railroad, all having more 
or less connection with the great water route by the canal, were 
entertained, and enormous debts contracted. To illustrate the oper- 
ation of these causes at Chicago, the letters of a young land, speculator 
of 1834 to his Eastern correspondent, which have been preserved, 
may b*e cited : 



3& CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

" Last Wednesday evening," says he, under date nth March, 1834, "I spent in 
endeavoring to make a bargain with Lieut. Jamison, U, S. Army, for lot 4 in block 
17 of the survey by Canal Commissioners, which is (as you see by reference to the 
map) a corner and water lot. I did not then succeed, but last Friday I bought it of 
him for $3,500, enormous sum, half of it to be paid on the first of June, 1834, and 
the other half on the first of December, 1834, * * This may seem to you 
to be an enormous sum for a lot 80 feet by 150 feet, in Chicago, and I think father 
will not give half that for it. But his ideas do not keep up with property in Chicago. 
I am sure that lot will, in less than three months, fetch $5,000. What makes me 
think so, is : there are a great many merchants coming this summer. There are but 
two or three water lots that can be bought at any price. All the business is at 
present done on this (Water) street. Now, merchants coming in are not going on to 
the back streets to do business as long as they can get a building lot on Water street 
for twice what its real vahte is. Lots have not yet got to near their full value. 
That one which I bought will, within five years, be worth three (and I think I may 
say five) times what I pay for it. Chicago will, within that time, be as large as 
Detroit is now and real estate will be worth as much." * * 

The next day he writes : " Last evening I made another bargain for 90^ acres 
of land for which I am to pay $3,500, the same sum that the town lot cost, 73 acres 
lie on the North Branch of the Chicago River," etc. 

This water lot had been first sold, as appears by the record, by the 
Canal Commissioners, to Oliver Newberry of Detroit, in 1832, for 
$100, on liberal time. Thus, in less than two years (probably before 
the canal fund had actually received the $100), the price paid was 
thirty-five times as great ; and this, long before the opening of the 
public land office. But it seems that in fifteen months after this 
purchase, at what the young dealer frankly called an " enormous 
price," the same lot brought to his hands more than four times that 
price, viz. : $15,000. 

The Fever at its Height. — It was during such a temper of things, 
in the spring of 1835, that fresh and immense immigration began, 
and when, on the 1st of June, the land office opened, the struggle to 
enter lands at the legal price of $1.25 per acre became frantic. Nor 
did it stop with the first half million of acres before Christmas. 
During the summer of 1836 the rush was nearly as great. Money 
almost ceased to circulate. The public treasury of the United States 
absorbed it all. Whoever had a dollar and a quarter could club with 
thirty others equally poor and enter a 40 acre lot, and for a time, no 
man seemed willing to own anything but land, and that only for sale. 
Meantime, after entry, all lands and lots, and mediately, all manner 
of property, left out of sight every reasonable criterion. Instead 
of money, promissory notes circulated ; so that even the dollars that 



FRANTIC SPECULATION. 39 

were heaped up on lots were known to be imaginary, with the chance 
possibility of being made real in any given instance by the credulous 
cash-paying stranger, of whom thousands were still coming ; full a 
hundred immigrant vessels having arrived between April and Sep- 
tember, 1834, besides arrivals overland, later in the fall and early the 
next spring. Few as were those willing to remain in the town, the 
population in the fall of 1834 little exceeding 500, yet by November, 
1835, the census disclosed eight times as many in the town (3,265) 
and nearly ten thousand (9,773) in the County of Cook. 

Nothing but Speculation. — ^n the midst of this great influx of solid 
settlers with their household goods and families, it is a significant fact 
that the town could not succeed in borrowing the sum of $2,000 for 
one year, at ten per cent. It was now a large town, without a dollar 
of debt, and owning as yet all the wharfage of the port, and with 
every prospect of an immense growth, at least for a brief time, much 
longer than was wanted for the loan. Undoubtedly the true reason 
was that it proposed a legitimate transaction, and no person having 
a mind to invest money was willing to withhold it from lot specula- 
tion. 

It was too much f 0?' the Authorities. — But there was the most urgent 
need of the money. The suddenness with which the town had 
grown left far behind every provision which had been made for pub- 
lic order, convenience, and safety from fire, water and disease. 
Bridges were to repair and build, roads to open, streets to drain, and 
everything to improve. The fort, though occupied by a small garri- 
son, was still the Acropolis, and thither went the judges to hold 
court, the county commissioners to confer and ordain, and the people 
to pay taxes, to make complaint, to dicker, and to banter. The 
record shows the authorities energetic, untiring, and fertile, obliged 
to meet novel difficulties every day with expedients too prompt and 
provisional to last. Wags were at their best when fence rails would 
be thrust deep down in the middle of Randolph or Dearborn street 
labelled " bottomless pit," while the treasurer was ineffectually ped- 
dling the town paper for small sums, and the street commissioner 
was distracted by the gibes of mired teamsters. Both the officers 
despaired and resigned, June, 1833. 

The Gi'aveyard Test. — At the election of July 10, 1835, a new 
board of town trustees were chosen, by whom a board of health, of 
extraordinary police powers, was constituted. Gaming houses, the 
sale of liquor on Sunday, the firing of guns and pistols within cor- 



40 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

porate limits, etc., were prohibited; bonds were exacted of fiduciary 
officials, police constables were appointed, and other salutary regu- 
lations made. 

The comparatively moderate real expectations of the place, in the 
midst of this lot gambling, could not have been more impressively 
shown than was done by the selection made of ground for public 
cemeteries. It must be presumed, especially where a surface is flat 
and the soil extremely moist, that the ultimate limits of a village of 
more than three thousand population, for more than a generation 
would be more than passed before locating a graveyard. Yet, in 
1835, the town authorities — and, as shown by their subsequent 
acquiescence, the people of Chicago — deemed a point on Wabash 
avenue, scarcely two miles and three-quarters from Randolph stree^ 
out of all probable reach of town expansion on the south ; while on 
the north, scarcely two-thirds of a mile from the same street was believed 
safe to hallow against the stern encroachment of competitive life. 
Such were the cemeteries respectively of 23d street and of the lake 
shore at Chicago avenue. It is needless to add that a few years 
necessitated the removal of the dead. 

Incidents of Development. — At this period, the scrubby timber 
which lined the east side of the south branch was yet unbroken, and 
where now the half a score of bridges swing for the throng of peo- 
ple and of vessels all day long, the solitary citizen in those days 
pushed through the bushes, untied his canoe and crossed the slough 
alone to count up with his partner, on the West Side, the illusory 
profits of the day's speculations, to discuss General Jackson's war on 
the national bank, or that they might help each other to a clearer 
understanding of the novel and magnificent railway schemes with 
which the country was teeming. On the North Side, for the most 
part, the timber, though small, was thickly grown, much of it pine, 
a solitary tree of unusual height standing till long afterwards near 
the lake at the foot of Randolph street. 

The town gave another token of prosperity in the encouragement 
of a second newspaper, the " American," 22dof August, 1835. The 
public buildings consisted of a small pound for estrays, the earliest in 
date, costing $12, a small brick house for the county officers and their 
few archives, an engine house, and a jail of logs — all on the 
Court House square, whereon there was not yet any court house. A 
fire engine was procured at a cost of $896.38, and another shortly 
ordered; an engine company and a hook and ladder company organ- 



DISHONEST SALE OF WHARF RIGHTS. 4 1 

ized, in which all the leading citizens were members ; the corporate 
boundaries previously extended, were now further enlarged by act of 
the Legislature, nth of February, 1835, so as to include all east of 
State street, between Twelfth street, and Chicago avenue, to the lake, 
the parcel occupied by the fort, subject, of course, to government 
occupation ; and everything seemed on a good footing but the city 
finances. Under these circumstances, an event occurred which led 
for many years to severe animadversion, and entailed a regret which 
even yet has traces in the minds of old citizens. 

Selling a Valuable Birthright. — The wharves, all owned by the 
town, were yielding a moderate revenue, the dues amounting to $15 
per annum for an extent equal to the width of the occupants' adja- 
cent lot, subject to street use across for 80 feet width. On the 14th 
of November, 1835, the Board resolved to part, practically forever, 
with the town's right to the wharves. This was the more culpable 
since the measure could not have been intended to relieve the finances 
immediately, and in fact did not relieve them at all — indeed, there 
seems no record evidence that payment was ever made. No money 
was exacted, and the notes of purchasers were indulged by resolu- 
tion of the Board from time to time as they fell due, until on the 
24th of March, 1837, time of payment was extended " until further 
notice." And this was before the great financial revulsion. 

The method of sale was this : A covenant of lease for 999 years, 
reciprocally binding the town and the lessee to certain conditions 
subsequent ; the wharf privileges were classified according to local- 
ity, rated at minimum prices to adjacent owners, and a day future 
set for a public sale of such as should not have been earlier appro- 
priated by the preemptors giving their approved notes for the desig- 
nated price. Lessees were bound to erect docks within two years. 
Except for those on North Water street, the town was bound to 
dredge the river to a depth of ten feet within four years. The price 
on North Water street was from $8.50 to $15 per front foot ; on 
South Water street, $25; on West Water street, $18. Only six 
remained to sell when the day of open competition came, one of 
these bringing $25 per front foot. It is generally believed that the 
arrangement was dishonest. The legal opinion that the Board of 
Trustees had the power to execute these improvident leases seems 
to have been a sound one, though it had cost the corporation but $5, 
that sum having been ordered paid for that opinion to J. H. Collins, 
Esq., Attorney at Law. 



THE INFANT CITY. 



Chicago Achieves a Mayor — Glance at the Situation of the Town in 1837 — The 
Canal, and the Galena Union Railway — Area of Chicago in 1837 — The 
Produce Trade, and its Wonderful Growth — Dark Hours, and the Brighter 
Day which they Heralded — Birth of the Lake Trade — Wretched State of the 
Public Works — " The Garden City," and Why it was Named Thus — Water 
Works Extraordinary — First Theatre — River and Harbor Convention — A 
Leaf from the Current History of 1848. 

ON the 4th of March, 1837, the legislature granted a charter to 
the city of Chicago. On the first Tuesday of May, an elec- 
tion was held, and soon afterwards a' city administration began. The 
first mayor was William B. Ogden. 

An Epoch. — This event was in more than one sense an epoch. It 
was the culmination of the first period of prosperity, mostly spuri- 
ous; and the beginning of a prolonged depression, ultimately a 
blessing. Let us take a glance at the place thus ambitious of civil 
promotion. 

A Poor Show of Municipal Institutions. — The schools were seven 
in number, including private schools, but no school was supported 
entirely at public expense, the funds being low, and the school lands 
improvidently sold or squandered. The general school law of Feb- 
ruary 14, 1835, was, imperfect, and it was not until in the autumn of 
1839, when a special law passed the legislature, that the public 
schools of Chicago received much attention ; nor did they reach a 
satisfactory footing before 1841. The churches were five in number, 
but none, unless, perhaps, St. James Episcopal, of permanent or sub- 
stantial structure. The bridges were unwieldy, out of repair, and 
unsafe ; none were draw-bridges in any just sense, and the best were 
floats, capable of sidling to one bank to allow the passage of vessels. 
Clark street was crossed with plank sluice-ways, draining, when they 
could drain, into the South Branch. On Lake and Randolph streets 
some grading and macadamizing had been ineffectually attempted. 



■ 



WITHOUT FINANCIAL CREDIT. 43 

Besides grocery and provision stores there were twenty-nine " gro- 
ceries," that is, what in later years in the West are called "saloons," 
i.e., grog shops, which, with ten taverns, made nearly forty places 
where drink was to be had by laborers on the harbor and canal, sail- 
ors, travelers, countrymen, and citizens. A number of buildings were 
standing awry in more recently opened streets. The water works, 
consisting of a hogshead on wheels, with a faucet, under which the 
consumer's bucket received a supply, for a price paid to the proprie- 
tor and driver ; the goods brought from the East, including even the 
bread eaten by the people^ amounting to $373,677, while all export 
was but the petty amount of $11,665 ; these figures being for the 
whole year 1837. But the previous year had been worse, the exports 
having been but $1,000, and the imports $325,203, in 1836 ; at earlier 
dates practically nothing, except in 1835. 

Poor Credit Also. — The finances were still low when the town 
aspired to a city charter, and the most important and necessary im- 
provements which had been projected the authorities were obliged to 
forego until they could borrow money. The Legislature granted 
power for the town to contract a loan not exceeding $50,000, the 
modest moiety of which the only Chicago bank, then recently estab- 
lished — a branch of the State Bank of Illinois — refused to loan. 
Mr. Wm. B. Ogden, as agent of the corporation, was then empowered 
to borrow elsewhere, but seems to have virtually failed. The arri- 
vals of immigrants greatly diminished during 1836, and the sales of 
public lands likewise. The shipments of produce were less than in 
1835, an d in a word, the disbursements of the general government, 
in the work still continued on the harbor, which was going on under 
the third appropriation by Congress, must have been the principal 
element of support of the settlement. 

The shipping interest, however, was slowly rising, and on the 18th 
of May, 1836, the " Clarissa," a sloop, the first Chicago built vessel, 
had been launched with much exultation. Speculation seems natu- 
rally enough to have diminished, and unless very extraordinary 
allowance was made for inflation in the assessment of real estate, it 
had not as great a height to fall from in 1836 as in the previous 
year. 

Two Capital Enterprises. — On the 4th of July, 1836, at Bridgeport 
on the south branch, with great ceremony, the spade was entered for 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Two thousand laborers were 
advertised for, and the work was vigorously prosecuted for some 



44 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

time, with a fund of half a million, borrowed under authority of the 
State. In the same year (1836) was projected an enterprise subse- 
quently of the utmost importance to Chicago, and especially credi- 
table as exclusively local in origin ; this was the Galena and Chicago 
Union Railroad, of which, indeed, there was little but the charter 
(granted, however, when there was scarcely a thousand miles of rail- 
road in America,) until ten years later. 

The First City Census. — The population, as shown by the census 
taken istof July, 1837, including 104 resident sailors and 77 negroes, 
was 4,170. Of these, there were 703 voters ; 1,344 minors ; and of the 
adults, more than twice as many men as women ; the latter, being 
but 845 over twenty-one, and the infants under five years, 513. 
Buildings, mostly mere shanties, are reckoned to have been about 
450 of all kinds, the number of designated places of dwelling or 
business being, however, somewhat greater, viz. : 398 dwellings, 29 
dry goods stores, 5 hardware stores, 3 drug stores, 19 grocery and 
provision stores, 10 taverns, 29 "groceries," 17 lawyer's offices and 
5 churches. Probably less than 150 children were in school attend- 
ance. The same house was frequently both store and dwelling. . 

The area of the new city embraced about ten square miles, 
bounded on the south by Twenty-second street, on the north by 
North avenue, on the west by Wood street, and on the east by the 
lake, subject to United States military occupation of a parcel. To 
this area, was added a further strip on the lake shore beyond North 
avenue. 

The Crash of '37. — Such was Chicago, when the financial revul- 
sion of 1837 came. The peltry trade had become relatively incon- 
siderable ; immigration had halted ; country produce sought other 
markets, or in the vicinity, was very small in amour/t. Laborers on 
the canal and harbor, through whom disbursements for those works 
would reach dealers, brought what money was in circulation. But 
all lived in the main on what was brought from the East, and during 
the years of depression, the most of them had no money income 
wherewith to buy. The indication was obvious, humbling, but emi- 
nently wholesome, viz. : Chicagoans must starve or go to work. 
Thus, perhaps, no date in the chronology of Chicago is more impor- 
tant to the political economist than that at which, for the first time, 
as much was shipped off as was received. This was in 1842. 

Wonderful Growth of the Produce Trade. — In 1836, when the 
hotels were boisterous with swaggering adventurers buying and sell- 



RISE OF THE PRODUCE TRADE. 45 

ing lots at imaginary rates amounting to hundreds of thousands ; 
when the homeless prairie sportsman divided the proceeds of his 
wolf-scalps and coon-skins between ammunition and the conveyance 
fee of a corner lot " on time ; " when the dream of every resident 
was to sell at the top of a haply realizing market, pocket his riches 
and " go home " whence he had come ; the entire settlement, with its 
town of 4,000 inhabitants, could afford a salable surplus of but 
$1,000 for its own support, as we have seen. In 1842, in the total 
absence of all preposterous speculation, it was able to send $659,- 
805.20 worth of grain, pork, beef, tallow, hams, beans, wool, flax- 
seed, lard, salt, hides, furs, etc. — an amount practically equal to its 
entire import for the year. The gradual steps of this trade are as 
follows, the population remaining about four thousand from 1836 to 
1840 : 

Total Exports in 1836, $1,000. 64 ; Imports, $325,203.90. In 1837, 
Exports, $11,665.00 ; Imports, $373,677.12. In 1838, Exports, $16,- 
044.75; Imports, $579,974.61. In 1839, Exports, $35,843.00; Im- 
ports, $630,980.26. In 1840, the gratifying increase of Exports, 
$228,883.00 ; Imports, less than the preceding year, $562,106.20. In 
1841, the population, corresponding with this sudden increase of pro- 
duction, suddenly rose to 5,500. Exports, $350,000.00, a handsome 
increase; Imports (economical), $564,347.88. In 1842, the popu- 
lation had reached 6,590, the Exports (nearly equal to the yet much 
increased imports), $659,805.20 ; Imports, $664,347.88. 

Dark Hours. — Meantime, from the 450 buildings, mostly shanties, 
in 1837, the place had now 1 store and 78 brick houses, 1,061 frame 
houses, and 224 other structures of logs, etc., in all, 1,364. As the 
building accommodation had thus more than trebled, not to speak of 
quality of it, while the population had but moderately increased, this 
epoch, the middle of the stage of " hard times," between 1837 and 
the opening of the canal, 1848, is seen, upon the whole, as one most 
promising of durable prosperity, though more than sixty business 
firms lay bankrupt, as shown in a petition of 1841 to Congress for 
a resumption of work on the harbor (previous appropriations having 
been exhausted) to which an official list was annexed, prepared by 
the city clerk ; real estate was still without demand ; banking was 
wholly abolished in the State without securing its people against the 
evils of paper money, operating only to enhance greatly the rate of 
interest ; and capital for the most promising ventures could not be 
persuaded into Illinois, a State that was faltering under prodigious 



46 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

liabilities incurred by exaggerated railroad schemes. Yet it is note- 
worthy, that in this darkest hour, Mr. George W. Dole built, at the 
junction of the branches of the river, out of timber cut ten miles up 
the North Branch, and hauled by teams, the first considerable vessel 
ever constructed at the place, a side-wheel steamer, named after 
himself. This was in 1840. A sloop had been built in 1836. 

Birth of Chicago's Lake Trade. — The country at large began 
reviving, and the opportunity for bona fide trade was good, as 
early as 1840. Circumstances were necessitating commerce at Chi- 
cago. Except about 50,000 inhabitants in the Ohio Valley, the 
Northwest territory was a vast wilderness in 1800. This fortieth year 
afterwards, the lake basin alone (practically uninhabited at the former 
date) is shown by the United States census to have contained 4,100,- 
425 inhabitants, whose cereal production was a grand total of 267,- 
265,877 bushels, of which home consumption left them a surplus of 
5,000,000 bushels. At Buffalo, as early as 1836, 1,239,357 bushels 
were received for shipment on the Erie Canal, including a cargo of 
3,000 bushels from Grand Haven, Michigan ; but it was years yet 
before a cargo went from Chicago. 

Meantime, the country was filling up with agricultural producers 
about the Western shore of Lake Michigan, whose produce of neces- 
sity must go down the Mississippi or up to Milwaukee, Kenosha or 
Sheboygan, in order to reach the Buffalo Emporium, or else seek 
Chicago, where the munificence of government had prepared a har- 
bor. Under these circumstances, it is astonishing with what seem- 
ing solicitude a firm in Chicago (Walker & Co.) to their $15,000 
worth of hides of a cargo of the steamer " Great Western," in 1838, 
experimentally added a little wheat. Neither this nor any other 
firm ventured to send any addition to this tentative 39 bags, equal 
to 78 bushels, the same year. But the next year Newberry & Dole 
sent a cargo, 1,678, bushels, by the brig Osceola, Francis P. Billings, 
Master, consigned to Kingman & Durfee, Black Rock (North Buffalo). 
This historic cargo left Chicago on the 8th October, 1839. But other 
shipments the same year, before the close of navigation, are believed 
to make the year's shipment over 3,000 bushels. Then came other 
thousands — ten; forty; five hundred and eighty-six; six hundred 
and eigty-eight ; nine hundred and twenty-six; one million and 
over ; two million and over, are how the figures sound, year after 
year, till in 1848 the opening of the canal brought corn also, and 
finally the greatest grain depot in the world was recognized, possibly 






™» 



PROGRESS OF THE CANAL WORK. 47 

by the farmer who harvested the first 78 bushels shipped from the 
port. 

Meantime, the packing trade, which was the elder, was not, nor 
was any branch of commerce or industry, derogated from by this 
astonishing growth of the grain trade. Packing continued to 
increase, and packers to multiply. 

Public works at a Low Ebb. — Congress from time to time made 
appropriations for the work on the harbor, which was never long sus- 
pended, and sometimes required to be done over, after freshets and 
obscure lake currents, still but imperfectly understood, would con- 
found the engineers. The canal, also, notwithstanding the pressure 
of the times, though obliged to proceed on a much inferior plan, 
slowly progressed until 1841. Power had been given the canal com- 
missioners to raise a million of dollars by the sale of town lots, by 
statute of March, 1837, but the revulsion immediately following ren- 
dered an enormous outlay of lands necessary to realize any consid- 
erable sum. But enough was raised to keep the work from stopping 
altogether. In July, 1837, the commissioners were further em- 
powered to enlarge the natural basin at the confluence of the two 
branches of the Chicago river, and to raise $400,000 by the sale of 
lots. By act of February 23, 1839, the legislature authorized a new 
canal loan of $4,000,000, to be secured on the canal, its lands and 
revenues, and a pledge of state credit, the bonds to bear six per cent. 
But this scheme underestimated the fallen condition of Illinois credit 
at that day. Fifteen millions of bonded debt was believed to be a 
millstone about the young state's neck for which she had the alterna- 
tives either to drown or to cut for deliverance by repudiation. 
Events, however, favored her relief, though not for many years. 

Nevertheless, certain of her creditors had the sagacity to secure 
themselves by further advances to assist the staggering state, a step 
which they never had reason to regret. With them, under authority 
of a law of February 21, 1843, the governor negotiated for a loan of 
$1,600,000, with which to finish the canal, they to have a lien upon 
all its franchises, property and revenues. A Mr. Swift, of Boston, 
seems to have effected the arrangement for the most part with Eng- 
lish capitalists. With these funds, after a suspension of about two 
years, the canal work was resumed, and ultimately finished in 1848, 
the last of the canal debt, principal and interest, having been paid 
when due, in 1871. 

The Garden City. — Between the panic of 1837 and the revival of 



48 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

trade, a period of four or five years, during which every citizen was 
constrained to look the stern situation in the face, came to the sur- 
face the pretty pseudonym of the Great Emporium of pork and grain. 
A garden affords the indigent or the economical householder a large 
part of support if dullness at his shop or over his counter gives both 
the leisure and the motive for its laborious cultivation. Men began 
to whitewash their fences, plant for fruits, and for shade, clean up 
their yards, plank their walks, and lay out their grounds both for con- 
venience of culture and for beauty ; all the result of having very 
home the scene of their industry, and that love of improvement which 
is inherent in women, a practical prompter. Thus, the place became 
the " Garden City." 

Great Waste of Pumping Power. — In 1840, the Hydraulic Com- 
pany, after resting on their charter since 1836, began the " water 
works." The scheme was on a scale so moderate that a 25 horse- 
power steam engine was to supply the power, of which the unused 
excess was expected to be so great for at least ten years, that a citi- 
zen — James Long, in 1842 — actually contracted in sole considera- 
tion of that excess of power, to do all the pumping during such a 
period. The reservoir, situated on the corner of Lake street and 
Michigan avenue, was elevated about eighty feet above the ground, 
eight feet deep and twenty-five feet square. A crib-work pier 
extended into the lake about 150 feet, on which was laid an iron pipe 
connecting the lake water with the pump. The distribution was 
effected by means of logs, the mains being of a five-inch bore. 

Schools. — In November, 1840, may be dated the earliest fair foot- 
ing of education in Chicago, and it is interesting to reflect that there 
has been no time when the spirit of the place was humbler. The 
Board of Inspectors of Schools consisted of Wm. Jones, J. Y. Scam- 
mon, Isaac N. Arnold, Nathan H. Bolles, John Gray, J. H. Scott, 
and Hiram Hugenin. Teachers were paid $100 for a quarter, con- 
sisting of three months. There were but four: A. G. Rumsey, H. 
B. Perkins, A. D. Sturtevant and A. C. Dunbar. No public school 
building worth mention was erected until in 1843, when the building, 
which, until 1871, still stood opposite McVicker's Theatre, on Mad- 
ison street, was erected at the urgent instance of an Alderman, Mr. 
Ira Miltimore, and thence was known as " Miltimore's Folly ; " it 
being but too generally assumed that there would never be children 
enough in Chicago to fill so large a building, the Mayor of the 
city, in an official message to the Council, recommending that it be 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE YOUNG CITY. 49 

converted into an Insane Asylum, or sold for proceeds with which to 
erect, or buy, smaller buildings suited to the " present and future 
requirements of the city." This bore afterwards the name of " Dear- 
born School." In a single year another, the Jones School, was found 
expedient, on Clark, near Harmon court; and then, in 1845, the 
Kinzie School, on Ohio street, near LaSalle, and, in 1846, on West 
Madison street, near Halsted, the Scammon School, and so forward 
from time to time. 

Newspapers. — The first daily journal was issued on the 9th of 
April, i839,^being the hitherto weekly "American." In 1844, the 
Chicago " Journal," in 1846, the " Staats Zeitung," and in 1847, the 
" Tribune," were started, all still flourishing papers. 

Theatres. — It w r as a strikingly gloomy period, one might suppose, 
to introduce the drama in the first winter following the crash of 1837. 
If the death of Garrick, in Johnson's phrase, "eclipsed the gayety 
of nations," hardly less might the distresses of that winter have put a 
penumbra upon whatever gayety the annual quagmires had previ- 
ously left unquenched. Nevertheless, amusement was appreciated. 
On the west side of Dearborn street, between Water and Lake 
streets, Isaac Cook kept a " saloon " in a small wooden building. 
In the second story of that house, the father of Joseph Jefferson, 
distinguished as the unequalled " Rip Van Winkle," himself a come- 
dian of distinction, and Alexander McKenzie, opened a place of 
theatrical entertainment. The company included Mrs. McKenzie, 
Mrs. Ingersoll, William Warren — all players of some note — and 
little " Joe," then about nine years old. This establishment was not 
a failure, but continued, with intervals, until 1847, when J. B. Rice 
established the first regular theatre in Chicago, situated on Dearborn 
street, near Randolph, which remained the only one until Levi J. 
North established another in 1855. Of the former's company, J. H. 
McVicker, now a leading Chicago proprietor, was a member, in 1849, 
and its cast often included distinguished actors, Forrest playing there 
as early as 1848. 

The River and Harbor Convention. — Up to 1846, Chicago had 
been included in the United States collection district of Detroit, 
Michigan. That year, a new district was formed, including Mil- 
waukee with Chicago, the Custom House being located at the latter 
city. In 1850, Milwaukee was separated. On the 4th of July, 1847, 
the celebrated " River and Harbor Convention," at Chicago, with 
reference to the commercial and industrial interests of the West, was 
4 



50 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

attended by many able men from all parts of the Union, most con- 
spicuous among whom, for his broad, lucid, enlightened and learned 
views, was the late venerable Edward Bates, of St. Louis, afterwards 
Attorney General under President Lincoln. The impressions which 
Mr. Greeley received on that occasion appear to have largely con- 
tributed, through his powerful influence on public opinion, to that 
abundant appreciation in the East by which Chicago has always so 
vastly profited. 

Streets. — In 1844, plank roads, becoming generally popular, were 
introduced into the Chicago streets. Hitherto, gutters at the sides, 
and a single gutter in the middle, in the nature of an open sewer, 
had, with many other expedients, failed of relief against the mud. 
The planking system, however, exposed travel to the constant hazard 
of warped, broken or displaced planks, and was soon given up ; the 
idea of lifting the grade of the entire city not yet having arisen to 
the boldest projector. In subsequent years, however, planking was 
extensively revived. 

Shooting Ahead. — The more sanguine minds were now awakening 
to the great possibilities of the place. Independently of the system 
of projected railroads, especially the Illinois Central, and of the 
prospective canal trade, the city had enjoyed several years of grati- 
fying prosperity when the time of opening of the canal approached. 
Taking the population, the taxable property, and the shipments of 
grain, as criteria, the progress appears, in the following round num- 
bers from tabulated data elsewhere accurately presented in this 
volume : 

Beginning with 1841, population, in round thousands, passed 
from five to six, to seven, to eight, to twelve, to fourteen, to sixteen, 
to twenty thousand, in 1848. 

Beginning with 1842, the total valuation of property, in round mil- 
lions, passed through one, two, three, four, and five, to six, millions, 
in 1848. 

Beginning with 1844, the total shipments of flour and all grains, in 
round numbers, were nine hundred thousand, one million, one mil- 
lion and a half, two millions, three millions, in 1848. These great 
figures might well have been expected to intoxicate the inhabitants 
of Chicago; but the fact is remarkably opposite. Undoubtedly they 
were generally dull of visionary apprehension, as if reserving their 
enthusiasm for the tremendous expansion of trade of five years later, 
when railroads began to work on it. 






PRICES OF LAND IN '48. 51 

A Leaf from 1848. — A multitude of historical particulars might 
not suffice to introduce us to the business thought of that day so 
well as the extract which we subjoin from the circular of a real 
estate dealer known to have been always amongst the most sanguine, 
written at the close of the year 1847 : 

"There is.no speculative demand for Chicago peoperty, and has not been for 
ten years ; and, though prices have been and are steadily advancing, it is a healthy 
growth. Sales are continually making, but they are almost wholly for invest- 
ment. Lots can be bought in the central business part of Chicago, yielding a ground 
rent of six to nine per cent. Lknow of a lot, for instance, held at $2,500, for 
which the owner is offered, for a five years lease, $200 per annum, and the taxes. 
The lessee wishes to erect a good brick building, conditioned that at the end of the 
lease, the lessor, at his option, shall renew the lease at seven per cent, on the value 
of the lot, or purchase the building at an appraisal, the value of both lot and build- 
ing to be fixed by three disinterested men. The building would cost about $2,000, 
and would rent for $450, perhaps more. These lots, twenty feet front by one hun- 
dred and fifty deep, which are among the best in the city, have been under lease 
for ten years past at $250 each, and the leases are renewed for the present year at 
$300. The lots are worth $4,500 each, and for a five year lease we could get $350 
per annum, nearly eight per cent. Another lot I could have bought a short time 
since, and perhaps can yet, for $3,000, which is under lease for seven years at $270, 
or nine per cent., with no conditions to renew or buy the buildings. * * * 
* Good brick stores, four stories high, and well finished, costing about $3,000, 
will rent for $800 to $850, in the best localities. When we have fifty thousand 
inhabitants, if rents are worth as much here as in cities of corresponding size and 
business, such stores will be worth at least $1,200 per annum ; and as $500 will be 
an ample allowance for the building alone, $700 will be left for the lot, from which 
deduct $100 for taxes, and it will then pay six per cent, on $10,000. This you may 
reasonably reckon upon in ten years. * * * New channels are to be opened, 
widely extending the range of country tributary to this market. But with no increase 
fro?n abroad, business in all departments must enlarge and extend, and very rap- 
idly in a country of early tillage. * * But the population of Illinois, 
particularly of the northern portion, which trades here, never was increasing so 
fast by immigration." 

A Good Time time to have Bought Real Estate. — It thus seems that 
business lots among the best in the city, twenty by one hundred and 
fifty feet, were worth but $4,500 in 1847. And though the opening of 
the canal was near, rail connection with the East not remote, and 
the splendid scheme of a wide western railway system was dawning, 
yet dealing in real estate was prudently predicated on the develop- 
ment of country locally tributary to the port of Chicago. The bright 
side of the railroad forecast, now seen to have been very moderately 
drawn, did not at that time escape the reproach of being visionary. 
We quote from a publication dated January, 1848. 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



'• Railroads with us are yet prospective, but there are four routes of so great im- 
portance, and so certain to be built, that it is proper to speak of them in connec- 
tion with the future growth of Chicago. Arrangements are making to continue the 
Michigan Central railroad from New Buffalo to Chicago, a distance of sixty miles, 
which, with the road building across Canada, connects us with the eastern roads. 
The Galena and Chicago railroad, one hundred and eighty-two miles long, has 
been surveyed, and. thirty-five miles of it, to Fox river, will be built next season. 
It will be finished in two or three years, and, the grades being uncommonly light, 
and mostly descending to the lake, will permit transportation of produce and lead 
at very cheap rates. Branches will be made up Rock River and into the lead 
regions of Wisconsin, and in other directions, and the stock must be profitable. 
Another is the Buffalo and Mississippi road, via Chicago, to the mouth of Rock 
River, with the expectation that in time it will be continued across the Mississippi, 
to Couneil Bluffs, on the Missouri. This has many influential and able advocates 
and friends ; among others, Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio, and Hon. S. A. Doug- 
las, of the U. S. Senate, who are sanguine that they will be able to obtain for it a 
donation of lands from Congress. The fourth, and by far the most important one 
for us, is the road from Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio, which connects Lake 
Michigan with the Mississsppi at the head of the largest steamboat navigation, 
open to the Gulf at all seasons of the year. A donation of lands by Congress, in 
aid of this road, will probably be made, as I learn from good authority, during the 
present session, which will ensure its i - apid prosecution. * ; * * 

" Remember what the past fifteen years have done in building railroads, and is it 
an over estimate to say that fifteen years to come will see every mile of these four 
completed? What must be their effect on Chicago? What other inland town can 
you name as the probable centre of so many and so important routes ? " 



A NOTE OF ADVANCE. 



It is Sounded by the Locomotive Whistle — Surprising Effect of Two Railroads 
upon Chicago's Prosperity' — History of the Illinois Central — Something 
About Land Grants — Race of the Track Layers. 

SUCH were the sanguine views. But such was not the general 
forecast of business minds in Chicago, in the year the canal 
opened. For six years, New Buffalo, in Michigan, barely on the 
opposite side of the lake, and but sixty miles distant from Chicago, 
had been the western terminus of the incipient railroad system of 
the East, and the distributing point of passengers from all the east 
by rail, canal, and lake, bound west. To visit Chicago, they had to 
cross the lake, or go around its head by private conveyance. Yet, 
no serious attempt was canvassed in Chicago for making a railroad 
connection eastward. Northwestward, the Galena road was just 
beginning, with strenuous opposition from a large proportion of deal- 
ers and merchants, who seem to have conceived that the effect would 
be to distribute commerce along the line, instead of concentrating it 
at the termini — a delusion so tenacious as to have been dislodged 
only by actual experience to the contrary, in their own stores. 

The Iron Horse Arrives. — There seems no reasonable warrant 
for supposing that the judgment which could not anticipate the 
grain trade, without the actual experiment of a few bags, had the 
prescience to forsee how, if Chicago would let them alone, distant 
points would reach her in their own trains (as has notably been the 
fact) ; but, certainly, that gift could not have made Chicago more 
patient than she was during this interval of comparative isolation. 
Meantime, the practice of eastern communities in competing with 
each other for the earliest or most eligible access by rail to Chicago 
— a practice that has made her the principal railroad focus of the 
country — was being prefigured close at hand. Eastward connec- 
tion by rail, as far as Lake Erie, was, in Northern Indiana, sought 
by a road to Toledo, preferably to the route by way of Detroit. 



54 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Thus grew an active antagonism between the Michigan Central and 
the Michigan Southern, or Ohio routes, each endeavoring after the 
advantage of the earliest connection at Chicago; it being considered, 
on all hands, doubtful at that day, whether the country could sup- 
port both roads. Thus, the Northern Indiana interest succeeded 
in getting a train into Chicago on the 20th of February, 1852, that 
of the Michigan Central road following but a few weeks later. The 
effect was immediate and prodigious. 

Meantime, the first rail, of strap iron, having been laid on the 
Galena road in 1847, by 1850, forty-two miles had been completed 
to Elgin, with the most gratifying results. Nevertheless, it proceeded 
slowly to Freeport, 121 miles from Chicago, from which point the 
great Illinois Central corporation, recently endowed, took the work 
in hand. Thus, the only place — Galena — to which Chicago ever 
started at her own expense, she did not get to. Yet, the dividends 
which rewarded the few indomitable prosecutors of this railroad for 
their public spirit were afterwards so great that it is said the most 
of them were disguised under an increase of stock, as too likely to 
excite hostile envy. The corporation, however, continued, occupying 
itself with building other roads, finally merging into the Chicago and 
Northwestern Company, the purchaser, in 1864, of the original road 
to Freeport, and the proprietor, at this day, of the great northwest- 
ern system of lines leading from Minnesota, Peninsular Michigan, 
and Wisconsin, to Chicago. 

The Canal, and What it did for Chicago. — Before the era of rail- 
road commerce with Chicago, about four years' use of the canal 
had demonstrated the wisdom of that work. Its opening found the 
city with a population of 20,023, with the area enlarged to include a 
space of about thirteen and a half square miles. In round thousands 
up to the opening of railroad connection eastward (1852), the in- 
crease runs twenty-three, twenty-eight, thirty- four, thirty-eight. In 
pork, wheat, coal, building-stone, and especially corn and lumber, the 
commerce was greatly increased. But the early supervention of a 
railroad system, with results that are an acknowledged marvel, had 
long made the canal interest a subordinate concern when, of recent 
years, it was deepened for the purpose of draining the sewerage of 
the city. 

The grain elevators, now so monumental of Chicago commerce, 
had reached, up to 1851, no more imposing ingenuity than that by 
which a mule was stationed on the roof of a warehouse, by whose 



GENESIS OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. 55 

traction the lift was effected. In the year named, the first steam 
elevator was erected. These, however, are to be taken rather in the 
mechanical sense, as the separate business of storing grain for the 
trade was of gradual and later development. 

Cholera. — The visitation of Cholera in 1849, and the succeeding 
two years, though not exceptionally violent at Chicago, attacked the 
Wisconsin and Illinois villages, and for a time, almost arrested trade, 
and is believed to have decidedly retarted growth of population. 
The first case appeared as early as 29th April, supposed to have 
come through contact with^an emigrant boat from New Orleans. 
The Cholera mortality for the whole year is estimated at 678, about 
1 in 36 of the population. The rate in the same year at Cincinnati 
was 1 in 23 ; St. Louis, 1 in 21 ; New Orleans, 1 in 37 ; New York, 
1 in 79. In Chicago the disease attacked few natives, and of foreign 
born, almost exclusively fresh immigrants. Between the 25th July 
and 28th August, 314 died, of whom a large proportion were inhab- 
itants of a quarter of the North Side in which few resided but Nor- 
wegians, hardly one of whom escaped the infection. It is noteworthy 
that all had used water from a single well, polluted from an adjacent 
outhouse. The disease was comparatively slight in subsequent years, 
until 1854, when it attacked the city with considerable violence, 
though elsewhere the preceding year had been the worse. The last 
visitation, in 1866, was comparatively slight. 

In September, 1850, Gas light first illuminated Chicago's then 
muddy streets, through the success of a Gas Light and Coke Com- 
pany which had been chartered the year before. By the year 18.52 
they had eight miles of pipe in use, with 561 private consumers. 
The wretched water supply, before referred to, was not supplanted 
by a better till February, 1854, though the City Hydraulic Company 
had been in dilatory operation for three years, having been chartered 
in February, 1851. 

Docks Built. — The building of docks and wharves had always 
been slow, but the necessities of commerce, now r greatly expanding, 
began to take effect. Up to 1852, perhaps in all two miles of good 
wharf was built. The freshet of 1849 having swept away all the 
bridges, necessity united with opportunity for the supply of better 
ones than the city had hitherto enjoyed. 

Business Has to Organize Itself. — That powerful Parliament of 
Chicago business, the Board of Trade, had no existence to befit 
recognition as a substantive thing, before 1856, but the grain dealers, 



56 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

live stock dealers, commission merchants, jobbers and manufacturers 
had been slowly educating each other to organic trade during the 
preceding eight years, the incipient organization dating in 1848. In 
February of that year, Thomas Richmond, proprietor of a grain 
elevator, and W. L. Whitney, grain broker, and the first one in the 
city, talked over such a system one afternoon, and then, consulting 
others, a meeting was called for the 13th March. This meeting was 
satisfactorily attended and a day fixed during the next month for an 
organization. On the latter occasion a Board of Trade was organ- 
ized, Thomas Dyer being made President, after the adoption of a 
constitution, by-laws, and provisions for immediate usefulness. 
Rooms were rented at $110 per year, and it was resolved to hold 
daily meetings. For some time considerable zeal was manifested, 
the passage of declaratory resolutions seeming to have been the 
favorite exercise. At the present day, it is amusing to read with 
what simplicity the Board of Trade were called in special meeting to 
protest against the removal of the toll collector's office to another 
place on the canal, on grounds of conserving the prosperity of 
Chicago. 

A Genuine Board of Trade. — In April, 1850, that Board termi- 
nated its unchartered existence, the members reorganizing under the 
general statute of Illinois of 8th of February, 1849. Thus arose the 
present Board of Trade, of which Charles Walker was the first 
President. At its organization, the annual dues were fixed at three 
dollars. We will revert to this subject. 

The Illinois Central Railroad. — Indications of a prospective em- 
porium began to multiply on every hand. Hitherto, liberal projects 
were much divided, but the dullest began to perceive that expedients 
for village convenience must be entirely abandoned. This better 
spirit was permanently in the ascendent after the work of building 
the Illinois Central Railroad was fairly entered upon. 

What it Showed Chicago. — This celebrated road has long been 
properly regarded as typical of Western railways. It first demon- 
strated on a large scale that besides supplying the existing desidera- 
tum of an outlet for produce, it is a true function of a railroad to 
indirectly provide its own freight by stimulating production, and, in 
due proportion, demand for distant commodities ; in a word, an 
American railway in the West is the instrument of settlement of the 
country. Upon this hypothesis rests the now settled practice ot 
endowing railroad projects with grants of public land, upon the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 57 

principle that the public revenue is, upon the whole, greatly aug- 
mented over the price of the land by accelerating the settlement of 
vacant territory by tax-paying inhabitants. Whatever maybe thought 
of the constitutionality of the policy, or of abuses which have arisen 
under it, the economical principle adverted to, first tested in the case 
of the Illinois Central Railroad, was by it, magnificently vindicated. 
The State was represented in the United States Senate by Messrs. 
Stephen A. Douglas and James Shields when, on the 28th of Sep- 
tember, 1850, an act of Congress was approved by President Fill- 
more, granting every alternate section of land within six miles on 
each side of the route of the projected road, or where the tract so 
included had been otherwise appropriated, an equivalent tract else- 
where within fifteen miles. The whole amount of land thus granted, 
though small compared to the exorbitant grants of late years, was 
abundantly munificent, amounting to 2,595,053 acres. 

The grant was made directly to the State, of which the Legisla- 
ture chartered the existing railroad corporation on the 10th of Feb- 
ruary, 185 1, and transferred to it the lands upon certain conditions, 
among which was the important stipulation that seven per cent, of 
the gross earnings of the road should be paid into the Treasury of 
Illinois forever. Considered as a tax indirectly upon the produce of 
the people, this is, perhaps, one of the most equitable, simple and 
economical expedients for revenue ever adopted. 

This road, with a total length of 706 miles, looks in the map of 
Illinois much like a river formed of two great branches, the one ris- 
ing in the extreme northwestern corner of the State, at Dunleith, 
opposite Dubuque in Iowa; the other at Chicago, both tending 
southward, through three-quarters of the length of the State, to 
unite at Centralia, proceeding thence to Cairo, the point of conflu- 
ence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. From Cairo to Centralia is 
112 miles, and to Chicago 365 miles, by this road. From Dunleith 
to Centralia is 341 miles. 

lis Effect. — When these roads were thus endowed, the population 
of the whole State was but 851,470, to be more than doubled the 
next decade. The settlements were, of course, sparse, except in 
reach of navigable waters, and the lines of the projected road lay 
without most of the more populous counties. Nevertheless, taking 
the decade between 1850 and i860, beginning a year before the 
company was chartered, and including, of course, the years before 
the road was opened, its powerful influence in settling Illinois is 



58 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

exhibited by the increase in population and production of twenty- 
three counties through which it passes. Of these, one-half doubled 
their population, besides one which became eight times and another 
six times as populous ; the remainder increasing in lower degrees, 
none as low as fifty per cent., except where the figure was occasioned 
by the erection of new counties, of which there were many on the 
lines of the road. A still more gratifying exhibit is shown in the 
increase of production, as the figures may be seen in detail in the 
United States Census Reports of 1850 and i860. As the road did 
not open fully until the 24th of March, 1855, much of the increase 
of population was due to merely prospective railroad facilities. 



A SPLENDID HEAT. 



Onward Dash of Chicago from 1850 to 1857 — Events Leading Up to the Great 
Crash — Commercial Bearings of Chicago at an Interesting Epoch — The 
Champion Grain Market of the World — A "One-Horse" Board of Trade 
Notwithstanding — Curious History — Baiting the Bulls and Bears with Free 
Lunches — The Board Takes its Third Fresh Start, and does Good Work — 
Origin of Chicago "Drumming" — Manufactures, such as They Were — The 
Crash of '57 — How it Affected Chicago — Our Merchants Prove Equal to an 
Emergency, and Profit by it — A Few Names and Figures for Convenient 
Reference. 

WE have seen Chicago, with great but unsteady steps, advanc- 
ing from a fur-traders' resort to an aspiring city, no longer 
dubious of a splendid destiny. With the completion of the financial 
cycle of twenty years, in 1857, we may, with propriety, bring to a 
close a sketch of her history as a whole, as some period must be 
selected at which to break into departments analytical and descriptive, 
rather than chronological, that account of the city which is the 
principal task before us. Before abandoning the standpoint of a 
general view, therefore, we will survey Chicago as the panic of 1857 
found her, and during the next preceding half-dozen years. 

Population and Property. — The following figures give the popu- 
lation, and total assessed valuation of property, real and personal, 
during seven years : 

POPULATION. PROPERTY. 

1850 ..28,269 $7,222,999 

185 I . . - -34,000 8,562,717 

1 85 2 3 8 >734 10,463,414 

1853 60,662 16,841,831 

1854 65,872 24,392,239 

1855 80,023 26,992,893 

1856 86,000 31,736,084 

1857 93>°°° 3 6 >335> 28t 



6o 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



The following discloses the distribution of property with reference 
to kind and city locality, during the same successive years : 





SOUTH DIV. 


WEST DIV. 


NORTH DIV. 




Real. 


Personal. 


Real. 


Personal. 


Real. 


Personal. 


1850 


$3,401,512 


1,232,214 


1,326,271 


203,885 


958,182 


98,185 


1851 


3,933,662 


1,35^656 


1,7 2 4,45 2 


252,154 


1,146,148 


155,645 


1852 


4,414,466 


1,844,280 


2,357,642 


2I3.635 


1,418,661 


214,730 


1853 


6,594,465 


3, 00 3>444 


4,321,909 


398,641 


2,2I4,3°3 


309,060 


1854 


8,657,840 


4,467,546 


7,442,799 


647,906 


2,890,105 


286,043 


1855 


10,400,279 


4,423,527 


7,795,93* 


56l,775 


3,441,290 


370,091 


1856 


i3>425>37° 


4,480,941 


8,330^5° 


686,150 


4,137,788 


676,685 


1857 


i5>33°>9 00 


5,663,670 


9,181,274 


867,693 


4,795,454 


496,290 



It will be observed that real estate in the west division increased 
nearly seven hundred per cent, during the decade, while personal 
increased about four hundred and twenty per cent. In the south 
division, both real and personal increased at about the latter rate, 
while in the north division, the increase of both kinds of property 
was about five hundred and fifty per cent. 

Trade Statistics. — During this period, the trade is indicated by 
the subjoined figures, touching several articles, for 1852, 1854, and 
1856: 

Articles. 1852. 1854. 1856. 

Flour received, bbls., 124,316.. 234,575.. 410,989 

Wheat bushels 937,49 6 - -3,038,955 - - 8,767,760 

Corn .. 2,991,011. .7,490,753-11,888,398 

Hogs " 65,158.. 

Hogs packed 44, 1 5 6 _ . 

Cattle received 24,663.. 



Lumber 

Hides 

Stone 

Coal 

Lead 



M 147,816. 

No 25,893. 

cubic y'ds 40,752. 

tons 46,233.. 

" 678. 



138,575-- 


220,702 


73,694-- 


74,000 


23,691-- 


14,971 


228,337.. 


441,962 


28,606- _ 


70,560 


68,436-- 


92,609 


56,774-- 


93,020 


2,124. . 


3,3*4 



The total tonnage for the year 1854 was about one million; and 
for the year 1856, a million and a half; the vessels arriving the for- 
mer year being 5,021 ; the latter year, 7,328. For the same years 



THE LEADING GRAIN MART. 6 1 

the total shipments of all grains were as follows : In bushels, includ- 
ing flour reduced to its equivalent in wheat, 1852, 5,826,437; 1854, 
13,132,501 ; 1856, 21,610,312. The next succeeding year, 1857, this 
strain total fell to 18,483,678 bushels. There was a heavy fall in 
shipments of barreled pork, lard, hides, seeds, lead, and other arti- 
cles, but most of all in provisions and cut meats, of which the aggre- 
gate fell from 13,634,892 lbs., in 1856, to 3,463,566 lbs., in 1857. 
The receipts of lumber slightly increased, the receipts of shingles 
diminishing ; while shipments of both were considerably increased, 
as were liquors, wool, barreled''- beef, and several minor articles. 
Upon the whole, however, it is apparent upon a fuller analysis, that 
the tremendous shock of 1857 but slightly affected Chicago as a de- 
pot of grain, live-stock, and lumber, the brunt falling upon real estate 
held for speculation, and upon the mercantile trade. This is shown, 
to some extent, by the great falling off in the assessment of personal 
property for the year 1858, except in the North Division, then 
inhabited by most of those citizens who have much invested in the 
taxable appointments of opulent life. 

Chicago Becomes the Champion Grain Market. — The year 1854 
marked the triumph of Chicago over every city of the world as a 
grain mart. Though 83,364,224 bushels, of which over half was 
Indian corn, were shipped from Chicago in the past year (1872), yet 
it required but 13,132,501, which was the amount shipped in 1854, to 
exceed the shipment of Odessa, or any one port, and to exceed that 
of New York the same year by 3,471,975 bushels. In 1852 the ship- 
ment from St. Louis had been foremost, and was, in 1853, 5,081,468 
bushels, surpassed, however, the same year, by Chicago, of which the 
figure was 6,473,089 bushels. At this time the system of elevators 
began to be fully appreciated, and the pioneer steam elevator of Mr. 
R. C. Bristol, erected in 1852, was followed by more, until, in 1857, 
twelve of them were in operation, on an invested capital of $3,087,- 
000, with a storage capacity of 4,095,000 bushels, and a daily 
capacity, for receipt and shipment, of 495,000 bushels. It would 
seem incredible that this immense business was done with the bung- 
ling artlessness of village usages; dealers chaffering with the sellers, 
mostly countrymen and wagoners, in their own stores or about the 
streets, without method or system, measuring cargoes by the half- 
bushel, and making of every transaction a bargain of special stipula- 
tions. 

To be sure, there was a Board of Trade, frequently in session, dis- 



62 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

cussing public measures, applauding eloquent harangues, ridiculing 
strange ideas, and interchanging all the blunt, frank, and hearty 
offices of western good fellowship. But this body of men could not 
overcome the habit of feeling that the time spent on 'Change was 
in derogation of the stern exactions of real business ; a fact demon- 
strated in a manner rather ludicrous, by providing, after ample and 
convincing discussion of the expediency of the measure, for a daily 
entertainment of ale, cheese, crackers, etc., to be spread by the Sec- 
retary, as an inducement of attendance. 

This was first adopted in 1853, and worked very favorably. It was 
thought safe after a while to discontinue a practice which exposed 
the Board to some badinage, but experience quickly proved that the 
refreshments could not yet be spared, and, in 1855, the hospitality of 
the Board was revived with great popularity — too great, indeed, as 
persons not members participated in such numbers that an official 
was constituted to keep the door against bibulous and hungry visi- 
tors. But ere long, the Board began to develop a clear sense of its 
important position, and with the year 1856 its permanent organship 
of systematic trade may be dated. 

What the Board of Trade Accomplished. — The influence of the 
Board, however, from the respectability of its membership and the 
magnitude of the business represented, had long been salutary. The 
Canadian Reciprocity Treaty of 1855 was in a great degree shaped 
by its counsels ; the substitution of weight, denominated by bushels, 
for measure in bulk, of grain; the adoption of a rigid and just sys- 
tem for the graduation of qualities of lumber, grain, and other pro- 
duce, and for the inspection of them and other merchantable arti- 
cles, are among the principal fruits of their earlier usefulness. But 
in greater or less degree, a multitude of public interests were for- 
warded by the agitation, discussion, and by the resolutions of the 
Board. Of such interests are the bridges, wharves, harbor dredging, 
lighthouse, improvement of the Illinois river navigation, and especi- 
ally the navigation of the St. Lawrence and Lakes. From the be- 
ginning, the Board has been frequently urgent and persistent on 
these subjects. At one time a committee was sent to Canada, and 
committees were at different times sent to Detroit, Buffalo, etc., on 
business touching the improvement of navigation, or the facilitation 
of shipments in other respects. At one time — and very early — an 
attempt was made to supply the felt want of bank facilities by a 
great bank with a capital of five millions, which was advocated with 









THE BOARD OF TRADE AGAIN. 6$ 

considerable zeal. The boldness of this project in 1853, when the 
aggregate commerce of the port was but thirty millions, is one of the 
most striking events of that time at Chicago, if we reflect that now 
with a trade of half a thousand millions, the aggregate banking cap- 
tal (greatly inadequate, to be sure,) is but a little over ten millions. 
The record shows that the Board resolved upon the great bank. 

In those days the Board consisted of very few members, the num- 
ber being but fifty-three in 1852. The activity and industry must 
have been confined to a very few. The following from, the minutes 
in 185 1 deserves insertion as a/contrast to the importunate multitudes 
now present on 'Change : 

July 9 — Present, C. Walker — no transactions. 

July 10 — Present, C. Walker, J. White, J. C. Walker. 

Jvly 12 — Present, O. Lunt. 

July 13 — Present, None. 

July 14 — Present, None. 

July 15 — Present, C. Walker. 

July 16 — Present, none. 

July 17 — Present, J. C. Walker. 

July 18 — Present, none. 

The Board lakes one more Fresh Start. — • The eighth annual meet- 
ing of the Board of Trade was held at the Tremont House on the 
7th of April, 1856. This meeting disclosed a self-sufficient interest, 
and, thenceforward, the institution was an assured one. Forty-five 
new members were elected, and the following officers : President, C. 
H. Walker; Vice-President, S. C. Martin; Secretary and Treasurer 
(as yet one officer), W. W. Mitchell. Before the end of the year, 
memberships had largely increased, and a suitable building was pro- 
jected for a Merchant's Exchange, and a committee appointed to 
prepare plans and solicit subscriptions. Daily meetings were held, 
and an offer of a building site on the corner of Clark and Washing- 
ton Streets, at $180,000, was promptly accepted. From some cause, 
probably a subsequent sense of extravagance, this engagement was 
not consummated, and the Board found, and was long content to 
occupy, satisfactory quarters on the corner of South Water and 
La Salle Streets, at $1,000 per annum. 

Rapid Growth of Merchandizing. — It is to be regretted that no 
system has ever yet been devised which, in certainty and simplicity, 
is practicable for the statistics of the dry goods and general mer- 
chandise trade of a place. What data are available for the city of 



64 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Chicago under this head are exceedingly inconclusive, even at the 
present day, when it is believed that it may reach, for the year 1873, 
five hundred millions. Notwithstanding a dictum in the message 
for 1852 of the Governor of Illinois, to the effect that in Chicago, 
when the total commerce was about twenty millions, there were 211 
"wholesale houses," it must be understood that wholesale business 
at that day, on the scale which would entitle it to be so classed now, 
was unknown in Chicago. Eight or ten firms supplied, however, a 
large country store demand along the canal, and in wagon-reach of 
Chicago; but the grain trade was large before jobbing was born. 
But between the opening of the Galena, and afterwards, in order, 
the other railroads, and the commercial panic of 1857, there rapidly 
grew up a great merchandise trade at Chicago. The numberless 
villages and settlements of Northern Illinois and Indiana, with some 
in Michigan, many in Wisconsin, and many all along the Mississippi 
in Iowa and Northern Missouri, as well as Illinois, had come into 
communication, more or less direct, with Chicago, by railroad, as 
early as 1854, and everything at that time testifies with what sur- 
prising promptitude they all sought that city. The merchants had 
been last to see the advantages of the railroad system, and yet were 
the first to enjoy it. 

Chicago Drummers. — Immensely stimulated by this influx, an in- 
tense rivalry supervened, until a million square miles were overrun 
by competing agents of wholesale merchants. Even in this, a prac- 
tice arising out of competition at their elbows, the Chicago mer- 
chants were really but blindly combining to advertise Chicago trade 
beyond all precedent as a competitor of that of St. Louis. By 
degrees, this broader antagonism made Chicago's "drumming" a 
matter of common cause. Thus grew up a prodigious trade in all 
merchantable commodities, which distant places, opening up railroad 
communications at their own expense, but multiplied by the mere 
operation of the customers' prepossession for Chicago, by which he 
would, as it were, annex a distant local system of communication,, 
even if it required him to build more roads, to that which was weav- 
ing itself around Chicago. 

Manufactures : a Beggarly Account. — In the way of manufactures, 
Chicago, even still relatively tardy, had practically nothing to show 
until 1853. The year 1857 found about 10,000 operatives, $7,759,- 
400 invested capital, and about $15,500,000 manufactured product 
at Chicago. In 1850, the census shows the manufactures of all 



RISE OF MANUFACTURES. 65 

Cook County to have been of the value of only $2,562,583, on a 
capital of $1,068,025, with 2,081 operatives. In 1853, the first loco- 
motive engine, and two other steam engines, were made. In the 
same year began the American Car Company, the Union Car Works 
of A. B. Stone & Co., and the Bridge Yard of Stone & Boomer, the 
Illinois Stone and Lime Company, the Marble Works of H. & O. 
Wilson, and a large number of small manufactories. The following- 
figures show a fair beginning for the year 1853 : 

1 Locomotive Engine. 3 other Engines. 

250 Freight Cars. 30 Passenger Cars. 

10 Baggage Cars. 10 Bridges. 

19 Turn Tables. 

Besides this, the American Car Company turned out $450,000 worth 
of work with 260 hands. Wilson's Marble Works, $15,000; four 
machine shops, $270,000; five carriage and wagon shops, $117,000; 
and sundry foundries, oil mills, brick yards, soap and candle manu- 
factories, leather, hats, caps, boots, shoes, furniture, agricultural 
implements, etc., etc. But there was ten times as much manufactur- 
ing product in 1857. 

Banks up to 1857. — Since 1842 there had been no institution in 
Illinois authorized to issue currency. In January, 1853, a banking 
law was passed. The Marine Bank of Chicago immediately organ- 
ized under the statute, and before it was a year old, nine banks of 
issue were in full emission in Chicago, besides the ordinary houses 
of commercial banking. Illinois State credit had rapidly risen of 
late years, and State bonds, and even those of Wisconsin, were 
deemed a satisfactory capital on which to issue bank notes, of which 
$760,000 were out before the end of 1853, and before the end of 
1854, $3,759,000 from Chicago banks alone. It inevitably came to 
pass that currency was redundant, bank profits inordinate, and a 
spurious ingredient mixed with all exchangeable values. Real estate 
quickly caught the infection and was sold largely on time, entailing, 
through defaults and foreclosures, much apparent loss, apart from 
that incident to the general shrinkage of values caused by the hard 
times following the crash. 

The Crash Less Disastrous in Chicago than Elsewhere. — With local 

causes, which we have seen, for a commercial revulsion, it cannot but 

be considered amazing that more injury was not experienced by 

Chicago, on the whole, than the mere halt of her splendid career; 

5 



66 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

for it is a fact that the number of commercial failures was surpris- 
ingly small compared with other cities. We cannot think it too 
much to say that if the crops had maintained through those 
years their average, no nourishing city in the Union could have 
claimed such a business conservatism as Chicago, and that two years 
would have redressed every derangement except what directly resulted 
from a continual flood of worthless currency poured throughout the 
remote towns of the West, issued by obscure and irresponsible banks 
in the East ; beyond which money, distant country dealers and 
farmers had little to pay or to buy with, for years after the revulsion. 

Our Merchants Equal to an Emergency. — During the period of gen- 
eral panic there was a notable example of prompt adaptation of means 
to ends that reflects at once upon the sagacity and the generosity of 
Chicago men of business, very high honor. The wheat crop being 
understood to be much of a failure, dealers in the East rashly with- 
drew most of the currency which had been sent out earlier in the 
year, and to move the crops. The Chicago banks were thus depleted, 
New York grain dealers practically declined to buy, merchants at 
Chicago were without exchange for their Eastern orders and bal- 
ances, and ruin all round was imminent. Yet, here was a crop — a 
concrete, actual fund of marketable property. Under these circum- 
stances, the Chicago merchants who were suffering for exchange took 
the place of the New York grain buyer, bought the grain of the grain 
dealer, who was suffering for a market, sent it East on their own ac- 
count, thus converting it into exchange for their relief, at the same 
time relieving the marketer of the grain. There was, indeed, a very 
general spirit of mutual help, to which cause may be ascribed a large 
share of the comparative immunity enjoyed by commercial men of 
Chicago, during that trying time. 

Things that Were to Be. — The novel and successful method of 
water supply, the still more remarkable recourse for sewerage, the 
lifting of the natural street levels equal to a man's height, the paving 
of a hundred miles of street with wood, the dozen bridges swinging 
with the ease of a turnstile, the establishment of a place of reception 
for cattle and swine, as ample and as attractive as the barracks of a 
military post, the thirty large school edifices, and the four hundred 
teachers, the churches, opera houses, hotels, theatres, grain elevators, 
etc., etc., with a hundred other tokens of a triumphant and enlight- 
ened prosperity, all which the Great Fire found at Chicago, were, in 
great degree, in comparative infancy, when, in 1857, the commercial 



. 



STATISTICAL ADDENDA — EARLIER STAGES. 



6 7 



storm depurated the city of speculation, and left her to take coun- 
sel of experience, to wait for the development of the Northwest to 
overtake her previous expansion, and to get her resources well in 
hand for the next rise, five years afterwards, in that strangly undu- 
lating line in which Chicago has always advanced. 

Thus we take leave of her chronological history ; subjoining hereto, 
however, for the convenience of the studious reader, in tabulated 
form, most of the statistical matter hitherto used in this historical 
sketch, and a quantity of other data where they were reliably pro- 
curable. . C 



TABLE I. 

Differential Analysis of Chicago at Several Principal Approximate 

Periods. 



When Laid Out, say 1830 to 1833. 



When incorpo- 
rated as a city 
—1837 to 1839. 



Area in Acres, 240 16,400, in 1837 

Voters (1P33), 29 -. 

Buildings, including shanties, 175. . 

Taxable Property, $19,560 

Taxes (1833), $48.90 

Hogs Packed, 3,000 

Cattle " 550 

Wheat shipped, bushels, 

Corn shipped, bushels, 

Vessels arrived, 4 -. 

Resident Population. 300 



703, 

492, _ " 
$236,842, in xi 
5,905, 
44o. 
260, 
78, 



528, 



in 1838c?) 
uy , 1837 



When the Canal 
had taken effect 
— 1848/0 1850. 

8,640, exte'ed, 1847 



4,182, 

3-742, 
$6,300,440, 
22,052, 
21,831, 
11,634, 
2,286,000, 
754,288, 

693, 
23,047, 



in 1849 
in 1848 
in 1848 

u 

in 1849 



in it 
in i£ 



Wh e n Ha ilroa ds 
were fairly opera- 
ting— 1854 to 1857. 



11,500, 

i5,79 6 , 
19,008, 
$31,736,08, 

396,55* 
99,262, 

34,675, 

9,846,052, 

6,814,615, 

7,3 2 8, 

84,H3, 



in 1856 

in 1857 
., in 1856 

1 u . 

in 1857-8 

in 1857-8 

in 1857 

in 1856 
in 1856 



68 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



LIST I. 



Business Houses of Chicago in 1839, from the Directory of that year 

issued by Edward H. Rudd. 

Population of the city, 4,200. Churches, 5 ; Schools, 7. Whole number below 
listed, 278, viz. : 

Newspapers. — The Chicago " American," daily ; the " Democrat," weekly. 

Dry Goods and Groceries. — Goodsell & Campbell ; T. B. Carter & Co. ; Paine & 
Norton ; O. H. Thompson ; Harmon & Lewis ; B. W. Raymond; Joseph L; 
Harmon ; George W. Merrill ; S. W. Goss & Co. ; A. D. Higgins ; C. McDon- 
nell ; C. S. Phillips ; H. O. Stone. 

Drugs and Medicines. — E. Dewey; L. M. Boyce ; W. H. & A. F. Clarke ; Philo 
Carpenter ; S. Sawyer. 

Hardware. — S. T. Otis & Co. ; David Hatch ; Osborn & Strahl ; L. W. Holmes, 

Boots and Shoes. — W. H. Adams & Co. ; S. W. Tallmadge ; S. B. Collins & Co. ; 
Wm. Osborne. 

Auction and Commission. — Stanton & Black ; Marshall & Tew. 

Commission and Produce. — J. S. Wright ; G. S. Hubbard & Co. ; McClure & Co. ; 
J. H. Kinzie & Hunter ; Dodge & Tucker ; Reed Bartlett, 

Books and Stationery. — Stephen F. Gale ; H. Ross. 
Lumber, etc. — Newberry & Dole ; G. W. Snow & Co. 
Provisions. — Newberry & Dole. 

Clothing.— Tuthill King; Paine & Norton; G. F. Randolph; J. F. Phillips; J. 
A. Smith & Co. 

£ngraznng. — S. D. Childs. 
fewelry. — S. J. Sherwood. 
Harness, etc. — W. S. Gurnee. 
Cabinet Ware. — Bates & Morgan. 
Liquors. — Isaac D. Harmon. 

Hotels.— Jacob Russel (City) ; John Murphy (United States) ; G. E. Shelley (Lake) ; 

E. Gill (Shakespeare). 
Insurance. — E. S. & J. Wadsworth ; David Hunter. 
Law Offices. — Seventeen lawyers, not listed. 



EARLIER STATISTICS CONTINUED. 



69 



TABLE II. 

Influence of the Canal within the first Eighteen Months after 

Opening for Traffic, viz. : 



ARTICLES, MOVEMENT OF 

Pork, pounds 

Stone, cubic yards 

Coal, tons 

Wheat, bushels 

Corn, " 

Oats, " 

Lumber, feet 

Shingles and Lath, No 

Tolls on Canal 



in 1848. 



( 



683,600 



5,416 

451,876 

516,230 

72,659 

14,425,357 

17,899,000 

$87,891 



IN 1849. 



2,783,102 

7,995 

7,579 

624,978 

754,288 

61,989 

26,882,000 

35,551,000 

$118,376 



TABLE III. 



Influence of the Railroads within the First Four Years after first 



Rail Communication with Chicago. 



ARTICLES. 






*ak 


MOVEMENT OF. 


IN 1852. 


IN 1854. 


IN 1 856. 


Flour received, bbls__ 


124,316 


234,575 


410,989 


Wheat " bush . 


937,49 6 


3,038,955 


8,767,760 


Corn 


2,991,011 


7,490,753 


11,888,398 


All Grains rec'd, " 


4,195,192 


15,726,968 


25,817,248 


ship'd " 


5,873.141 


12,932,320 


21,583,221 


Hogs received, No. . . 


65,158 


138,515 


220,702 


" packed, " 


44,156 


73,694 


74,000 


Cattle " 


24,663 


23,691 


14,971 


Lumber received, M . 


147,816 


228,337 


441,962 


Hides " No.. 


25,893 


28,606 


70,560 


Stone rec'd, cub. yds.. 


40,752 


68,436 


92,609 


Coal " tons 


46,233 


56,774 


93,020 


Lead " " 


678 


2,124 


3,314 


Vessels arrived 


[Uncertain.] 


5,021 


7,328 


Tonnage of Vessels .. 


do 


1,092,644 


1,545,379 


Population of City 


38,734 


65,872 


84,113 


Estimated total of 








Commerce of City 


$20,000,000 


$32,000,000 


$85,000,000 


Asses'd Value of Prop- 








erty, real and personal 


$10,461,714 


$24,392,239 


$31,736,084 



7° 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



TABLE IV. 

The Rise of the Produce Trade of Chicago. The years during which 
she was overcomi?ig the balance of trade with the East. 



1836. 

1837. 
1838. 

1839 
1840. 

1841. 

1842. 



Year. 



Imports. 



$325,203 90 
373,677 12 
597,974 61 
630,980 26 
562,106 20 
564,347 88 
664,347 80 



Exports. 



5 1,000 64 

11,665 °° 

16,044 75 

35.843 00 

228,883 00 

350,000 00 

659,805 20 



LIST II. 



Original Call for a Board of Trade j Chicago, 1848. 

"Merchants and business men who are favorable to the establishment of a Board 
of Trade in this city, are requested to meet at the office of W. L. Whiting, on the 
13th (March, 1848), at three o'clock, p. m. 

Wadsworth, Dyer & Chapin, 
George Steele, 
I. H. Birch & Co., 
Garner. Hayden & Co., 
H. H. Magee & Co., 
Neff & Church, 
John H. Kinzie, 
Norton, Walker & Co., 
DeWolf & Co., 
Charles Walker, 
Thomas Richmond, 
Thomas Hale, 
Raymond, Gibbs & Co." 






EARLIER STATISTICS CONTINUED. 7 I 



LIST III. 

First Officers on the Incorporation of Chicago as a City, April 12, 1837 , 

Viz. : 

Mayor. — William B. Ogden. 

High Constabh. — John Shrigley. 

First Ward. — Aldermen: J. C. Goodhue, Frances Sherman. Assessor: Nathan 

H. Bolles. 
Second Ward. — Aldermen : J. S. C. Plogan. Assessor : E. A. Tudor. 
Third Ward. — Aldermen : J. D. Caton, H. Hugenin. Assessor: Solomon Taylor. 
Fourth Ward. — Aldermen : A. Pierce, F. H. Taylor. Assessor : Wm. Forsyth. 
Fifth Ward. — Alderman: Bernard Ward. Assessor : Henry Cunningham. 
Sixth Ward. — Aldermen : S. Jackson, H. Pearson. Assessor : S. D. Pierce. 

City Attorney : N. B. Judd. 



TABLE V. 



Statistics of the City of Chicago upon its Incorporation, 12th of April, 

1837, viz. : 

Area 10 square miles. 

Buildings — Warehouses 4 

Dry Goods 29 

H ard ware .. 5 

Drug Stores 3 

Grocery and Provision . ... 19 

" Groceries " 29 

Taverns 10 

Churches 5 

Law Offices 17 

Dwellings 398 

Substract for Stores 27 — 371 — 492 buildings. 

Population — Under 5 years — 513 

Between 5 and 21 years 831 

Over 21 years .__. 2,445 — 3.739 

Additional arrivals to 1st of July. 200 

Negroes 77 

To man Chicago owned vessels. 104 — 381 — total population 4,170 

Adult Males — ._ 1,603 

" Females 842 

Assessed Valuation of Real Estate $236,842 

Taxes Levied ._ 5.905 



7 2 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



LIST IV. 

Adult Male Inhabitants of Chicago when First Incorporated as a 
Town, loth of August, 1833, viz. : 



Dr. E. S. Kimberly, Town Trustee. 

John B. Beaubien. 

Mark Beaubien. 

Madore Beaubien, Town Trustee. 

T. J. V. Owen, President of the Town 

Trustees. 
William Ninson. 
Hiram Pearsons. 
Philo Carpenter. 
George Chapman. 
John S. Wright. 
John T. Temple. 
Matthias Smith. 
David Carver, 
James Kinzie. 
Charles Taylor. 
J. S, C. Hogan, Postmaster. 



Eli A. Rider. 

Dexter J. Hapgood. 

G. W. Snow. 

Gholson Kerch eval. 

G. W. Dole, Town Trustee. 

R. J. Hamilton. 

Stephen F, Gale. 

Enoch Darling, 

W. R. Adams. 

C. A. Ballard. 

John Watkins. 

James Gilbert. 

John Miller, Town Trustee. 

Elijah Wentworth. 

Charles See, Methodist Preacher. 

Alexander Robinson. 

Robert A. Kinzie. 






■■ 



EARLIER STATISTICS CONTINUED. 



73 



LIST V. 



First Fire Companies of Chicago, 1835. 



Hiram Hugenin, Chief Engineer. 



E-, 



Hook and Ladder. 



S. G. Trowbridge, Foreman. 

E. Morrison. 

J. M. Morrison. 

H, G. Loomis. 

John Dye. 

Joel Wicks. 

H. B. Clarke. 

William Young. 

H. H. Magee. 

Peter Warden. 

J. S. C. Hogan. 

R. A. Neff. 

T. O. Davis. 

H. M Draper. 

J. H. Mulford. 

Peter Pruyne. 

Ira Kimberley. 

W. McForresten. 

Alvin Calhoun, 

O. L. Beach. 

M. B. Beaubien. 

A, A. Markle. 

A. V. Knickerbocker. 

S. W. Paine. 

S. C. George. 

E. Peck. 

H. C. Pearsons. 

George Davis. • 

Wm. H. Clark. 

J. C. Hamilton. 

John Calhoun. 

D. S. Dewey. 

Hugh C. Gibson. 



John Wilson. 
E. C. Brackett. 
John Holbrook. 
T. Perkins. 
S. F. Spalding. 
Ira Cook. 
George Smith. 
J. J. Garland. 
J. K. Palmer. 
P. F. W. Peck. 
T. S. Eells. 
Joseph L. Hanson. 
S. B. Cobb. 
J. A. Smith. 
John R. Langston. 
Henry G. Hubbard. 
Thomas J. King, 
N. L. F. Monroe. 
J. K. Botsford. 
George W. Snow. 
G. W. Merrill. 
Joseph Meeker. 
S. S. Lathrop. 
Thomas S. Hyde. 
Jason McCord. 



A FRUITFUL DECADE. 



Some of the Things Accomplished in Chicago Between 1858 and 1868. — Why was 
not Chicago Called After Hercules, Herculaneum ? — Description of the Lake 
Tunnel. — The Canal Enlargement. 



WE do not purpose to treat in detail the period intervening 
between the panic of 1857 and the great conflagration of Octo- 
ber, 1 87 1 ; though the principal events of those years, so far as they 
concern the material development of Chicago, are placed on. record in 
one or another of the chapters which follow. And, lest the reader 
may accuse the author of a Hibernicism in referring to this period 
as a "decade," it must be explained that the ten years, 1858-68, 
witnessed the inauguration, and, in nearly, every case, the consum- 
mation of all the important public improvements accomplished with- 
in the longer period. 

A Brillia?it Series. — And what a brilliant list they form ! The 
same which to this day furnishes the preamble of all our banquet 
speeches, especially when the orator is from abroad, and wishes to 
refresh his hearers with a new and pleasing summary of their achieve- 
ments. The story has become a trite one, but as those who tell it 
are not always well up in the comparatively trifling matters of chro- 
nology, it may be as well to place on record the fact that it was 
within a period of ten years — two of them notoriously hard times 
years the country over — that Chicago achieved the following labors : 

1. Raised her street grades, and with them her buildings, includ- 
ing many large structures of masonry, from two to six feet above the 
natural level. 

2. Paved some seventy-five miles of her streets with patent 
wooden pavement, and demonstrated the economy and practicability 
of that species of road-bed. 

3. Inaugurated a system of horse railways which have since 
extended to some eighty-five miles of track, and which now carry 
one hundred and ten thousand passengers per day. 



HERCULEAN LABORS. 75 

4. Straightened the channel of her river, both through the land 
and through the shoal part of the lake, made so by alluvial deposits. 

5. Built, or, by her business opportunities induced others to 
build, a stupendous railroad system, by which the roads of other 
cities were "tapped," and their traffic diverted to Chicago. 

6. Put in practice a system of sewerage and a plan of special 
assessment which have enabled an unprecedented amount of street 
and local improvement to be carried on without individual hardship 
or any general complaint of excessive taxation. 

7. Established the celebrated stock-yards, which afford ample 
accommodations for the reception and constant entertainment of 
one hundred and eighteen thousand two hundred head of horses, 
cattle, sheep, and hogs, in the usual proportion of these animals, as 
marketed. 

8. Built a Chamber of Commerce, and established valuable reg- 
ulations and facilities for the handling and sale of Western produce. 

9. Built the lake tunnel, by which was secured the most copious, 
the purest, and the cheapest water supply enjoyed by any city in the 
world, excepting, perhaps, that of Glasgow, Scotland. 

10. Set on foot an engineering undertaking by which a current 
from Lake Michigan was turned through the Chicago river, and that 
stream made the purest, whereas it had previously been the filthiest 
of rivers metropolitan. 

11. Built a tunnel under the river, and demonstrated, after many 
failures through inexperience of contractors, the entire practicability 
of this class ef thoroughfares, of which two are now in active use in 
Chicago. 

12. Sent to the front twenty-two thousand, five hundred and 
thirty-two Union soldiers, of whom less than fifty were conscripts ; 
and contributed, including her share of the national debt, $62,000,000 
of the $3,500,000,000 which the war cost the United States. At the 
same time, Chicago was discharging her duty as the metropolis of 
the West, so zealously that her title to that distinction became more 
then doubly sure during the war. 

The twelve labors of Hercules were very wonderful — so wonder- 
ful, indeed, that nobody believes the story of them. These twelve 
labors of a city which might not inappropriately have been named 
Herculaneum, on more than one account, are scarcely less wonder- 
ful — and they have to be believed. 

It is customary (and proper, also,) to associate the name of Mr. 
Chesbrough, City Engineer, with this conception, as well as execu- 






76 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

tion of the two great engineering feats by which the city was supplied 
with pure lake water for use, and delivered from that pestiferous body 
of death, the Chicago river of the years previous to 1870 — both, as 
will readily be seen, desiderata of the first magnitude to the health of 
the city. 

The Lake Tunnel. — Was commenced in the early part of 1864; 
the first brick in the shaft at the crib was laid December 22d, of the 
following year ; and the citizens first drew the new water from their 
hydrants on the 25th of March, 1867. The tunnel, which is now 
(September, 1873,) being duplicated for the purpose of supplying 
new pumping works in the West Division of the city, is thus des- 
cribed in Colbert and Chamberlain's history : 

"The crib is forty and a half feet high, and built in pentagonal form, in a cir- 
cumscribing circle of ninety-eight and a half feet in diameter. It is built of logs 
one foot square, and consists of three walls, at a distance of eleven feet from each 
other, leaving a central pentagonal space having an inscribed circle of twenty-five 
feet, within which is fixed the iron cylinder, nine feet in diameter, running from 
the water line to the tunnel, ?ixty-four feet below the surface, and thirty-one feet 
below the bed of the lake at that point. The crib is thoroughly braced in every 
direction. It contains 750,000 feet of lumber, board measure, and 150 tons iron 
bolts. It is filled with 4,500 tons of stone, and weighs 5,700 tons. The crib 
stands twelve feet above the water line, giving a maximum area of 1, 200 feet which 
can be exposed at one sweep to the action of the waves, reckoning the resistence 
as perpendicular. The outside was thoroughly caulked, equal to a first-class vessel, 
with three threads in each seam, the first and last being what is called " horsed," 
Over all these there is a layer of lagging to keep the caulking in place and protect 
the crib proper from the action of the waves. A covered platform or house was 
built over the crib, enabling the workmen to prosecute the work uninterrupted by 
rain or wind, and affording a protection for the earth brought up from the excava- 
tion, and permitting it to be carried away by scows, whose return cargoes were 
bricks for the lining of the tunnel. The top of the cylinder was subsequently cov- 
ered with a grating to keep out floating logs, fish, etc. A sluice made in the side 
of the crib was opened to let in the water, and a light-house was intended to be 
built over all, serving the double purpose of guarding the crib from injury by ves- 
sels and of showing the way to the harbor of Chicago. 

" Down the iron cylinder, inside this crib, the workmen descended, and began the 
work of excavating towards the shore. They laid their first brick on the 22d of 
December, 1865, and in twelve months more the two sets of workmen met beneath 
the waves, the last brick (which was a stone) being laid by Mayor Rice on the 6th 
of December, 1866. 

" The inside width of the tunnel is five feet, and the inside height five feet and two 
inches, the top and bottom arches being semicircles. It is lined with brick masonry 
eight inches thick, in two rings or shells, the bricks being laid lengthwise of the 
tunnel, with toothing joints. The bottom of the inside surface of the bore at the 
east end is sixty-six feet below water level, or sixty-four feet below city datum, and 



THE LAKE TUNNEL. 77 

has a gradual slope toward the shore of two feet per mile, falling four feet in the 
whole distance, to admit of it being thoroughly emptied in case of repairs, the 
water being shut off" at the crib by means of agate. The lower half of the bore is 
constructed in such a manner that the bricks lie against the clay, while in the upper 
half the bricks are wedged in between the brick and the clay, thus preventing any 
danger which might result from the tremendous pressure which, it was feared, might 
burst out the tunnel. 

" From this tunnel, water was first supplied to the hydrants of the city, March 
25th, 1867, and from that time forward the people of Chicago had a bountiful supply 
of the best water in the world, always clear, as being taken from a point in the lake 
too far removed from the shore to admit of fouling from the city sewerage, or the 
washings of the land surface in a storm. 

" The tunnel will deliver under a head of two feet, 19,000,000 gallons of water 
daily ; under a head of eight feet, 38,000,000 gallons daily, and under a head of 
eighteen feet, 57,000,000 gallons daily. The velocities for the above quantities will 
be one and four-tenths miles per hour, head being two feet ; head being eight feet, 
tho velocity will be two and three-tenths miles per hour ; and the head being 
eighteen feet the velocity will be four and two-tenths miles per hour. By these 
means it will be competent to supply one million people with fifty-seven gallons 
each per day, with a head of eighteen feet." 

The crying necessity which existed seven or eight years ago for a 
means of obtaining water from a point far out into the lake,. has, in 
great measure, passed away, the lake being now the head waters of 
the stream which passes through the city, instead of the depository 
of such of its filth as the sluggish current, occasionally to be seen, 
was able to ward off. Yet, the success of the system has been so 
great, and the feeling of perfect immunity from liability to anything 
unpleasant in regard to the water supply has been made so strong, 
by six years and more of uninterrupted use, that any proposition to 
accept any fountain-head short of the favorite crib, would prove 
exceedingly unpopular. Hence, we see the construction corps of 
the Water Board bravely tunneling away, for the additional supply, 
a mile and a half, at least, past the point where is reached a fluid 
as absolutely pure as any in Lake Michigan. 

The highest daily consumption of water in Chicago has been but 
little over 30,000,000 gallons, or (say) 75 gallons to each inhabitant 
— an amount ^ till far inside the daily pumping capacity of the 
works. Indeed, one engine of the three in operation at the works 
has a capacity of 36,000,000 gallons per day; yet the immense dis- 
tances over which the water has now to be delivered so dissipates 
the pressure, as to necessitate the additional pumping works referred 
to, which are expected to be built and operating by the close of 
1874. 

The Canal Deepened. — The deepening of the Illinois and Michi- 



78 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

gan Canal, by the city of Chicago, has been referred to. This was 
undertaken in 1866, chiefly as a sanitary measure, in pursuance of 
an act passed February 16, 1865, in the State Legislature, which act 
authorized the city to issue bonds to the amount received for the 
completion of the work, and gave it a lien on the canal and its tolls 
to the amount of $2,500,000. (It was the taking up of this lien — 
something which the State had reserved to itself the option of doing 
— ■ that constituted the aid contributed to the city by the State, after 
the great fire.) The improvement consisted mainly of cutting 
down the canal, mostly through solid rock, for a distance of twenty- 
six miles, to a level eight and a half feet below the level of Lake 
Michigan. This work was prosecuted with varying energy, and* its 
feasibility was much criticised by a portion of the press; so that, 
before its completion, the public had become well nigh persuaded 
that it would be a failure. Their agreeable disappointment may be 
imagined when, on the morning of the 16th of July, the gates having 
been opened the day before, the river was found to have changed 
its black, greasy body for a bright, gray stream, with a decidedly 
perceptible current tending towards what had been hitherto called 
up-stream, and bearing along with it most refreshing whiffs of cold 
lake air! It was an event as unique and poetical in its development 
as it was splendid in its conception, and beneficent in its results. 

The operations of the canal drain, in purifying the contents of the 
Chicago River exceed the most sanguine expectations, nor are there, 

— except for a brief season before the breaking up of the ice in spring 

— any unpleasant consequences to the people along tbe canal be- 
tween Chicago and the Illinois River. 

The North Branch of the river is not materially benefited by the 
canal drain, and a project is now on foot, sustained by a $200,000 
appropriation by the city government last July, to connect the river 
with the lake, north of the city limits, and thus ensure a current sim- 
ilar to that which purifies the main river and the South Branch. 

Railroads and Other Public Improvements. — As already intimated, 
the grand railroad system of which Chicago is the center, received 
its greatest impetus during the fruitful decade to which we are re- 
ferring. What this system includes, and what trade it commands, 
are told in a subsequent chapter devoted to that subject. Some idea 
of the extent of the street improvements and other public works 
which were conceived, and, in large degree, executed during this 
period may be gained from the tables of statistics at the close of 
Part II. 



mmim m mm 



THE GREAT FIRE. 



Circumstances of the Memorable Conflagration of 1871 — Incidents of the Fire — 
The Area Desolated — The Values Destroyed — Fatalities to Life — Insurance 
and Other Statistics — The Suffering Caused — A World to the Rescue — 
Resumption of Business — Chicago Disappoints Both Friends and Enemies. 

IT is not our intention to give here a full account of the great 
conflagration of October 8, 9, 10, 187 1, by which the whole cen- 
tral portion of the city, and so much of the residence portion as 
embraced the homes of near 100,000 people, were reduced to ashes 
in a more literal sense than had ever before happened on any such 
scale since the creation of the world and its inhabitation by man. 
The story fills a volume itself — was made, indeed, to fill several 
volumes by the enterprising authors and publishers who, immediately 
after that startling episode, proceeded to turn an honest penny, by 
supplying without delay the eager demand for full information on a sub- 
ject of such absorbing interest. It is from the pages of the history 
compiled directly after the fire by Mr. E. Colbert, and the editor of 
the present volume, that the most of the facts contained in this 
chapter are derived; the developments of the last two years fur- 
nishing the cue to some important corrections and additions. 

Prepared for the Sacrifice. — The calamity broke upon the city on 
the night of the 8th of October. For three or four weeks preceding 
that date had been very dry, and during the week immediately pre- 
ceding there had been much dry, hot wind from the southwest. On 
the night of the 8th, which was Sunday, this wind was blowing at a 
fearful rate. On Saturday night there had been a very disastrous 
fire in the southwest quarter of the city, burning over several acres 
of wooden buildings, and figuring in the next morning's journals as 
the most extensive fire in Chicago since the early part of 1867. 
This was forgotten, however, in the hundred times more disastrous 
conflagration which followed. 



8o CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Origin of the Fire, etc. — By all accounts, the great conflagration 
had its inception a little after nine o'clock on the evening of the 9th, 
in a shanty on De Koven Street — one of the many hundreds of 
such shanties which abounded in that neighborhood. The origin of 
the calamity is with equal unanimity attributed to the source which 
has become famous in this connection — the upsetting of a lamp by 
Mrs. O'Leary's ill-tempered cow. The flames spread with a rapidity 
quite unprecedented, and which the fire department — a brave but 
badly-officered organization — was utterly unable to check. The 
condition of the department was simply that of complete impotence, 
and would still have been so, perhaps, if their morale and generalship 
had been the best, — so impetuous was the gale in its action upon the 
flames, and so much like a tinder-box had that part of the city 
become by the drying process of the preceding days. The fire 
swept onward so rapidly, that it overwhelmed and consumed two of 
the fine steam fire-engines set to oppose its progress; and it spread 
to right and left so fearfully, that it crossed the river nearly simultan- 
eously at two points a quarter of a mile apart, both of which points 
were reached in less than three hours from the first inception of the 
lire, at a point three-quarters of a mile distant, in a straight line. In 
three hours more, it was burning at points nearly three miles apart, 
and was making sure of everything, combustible or otherwise, that 
lay between them. By the time the flames had reached the business 
center of the city — say the quarter bounded by Adams Street, La 
Salle Street, the main river, and the lake — it had accumulated 
much more than furnace-like intensity of heat, and the air was so 
charged with brands and cinders, borne along by the hurricane, that 
even the most thoroughly-built structures offered little resistance to 
its progress. Edifices like the "Tribune" building, post office, etc., 
which had been built "fire-proof," went with the rest. The court- 
house, which stood somewhat isolated upon its square, and which 
was of by no means shabby architecture, offered no resistance; its 
walls crumbled ; its precious archives, including every vestige of a 
record of titles and of court proceedings owned by the county, were 
licked up without ceremony by the flames ; and the great bell in the 
tower sank down and melted in the ruins, pealing, as it went, its 
last alarm. 

Remarkable Features. — The peculiarity of this conflagration^ and 
perhaps of all other very great burnings, was that its combustion 
seemed to be perfect; there were none of those vast volumes of 



INCIDENTS OF THE GREAT FIRE. 8 1 

smoke which we are accustomed to see roll forth from buildings 
attacked by the flames, there being always much matter, compara- 
tively incombustible, in every building. In this case, everything in 
the line of the conflagration went, as if it had been saturated with 
coal oil beforehand ; the fact being that, while the intense heat of 
the general conflagration had licked up every drop of moisture 
which the scorching sirocco of the last few days had left, the wind 
that was blowing at the moment converted the whole territory round 
about into one vast blast-furnace, from which nothing escaped un- 
consumed. .(_ 

No Water. — As already hinted, the fire department was early 
mustered out of service, and could interpose no obstacle to the 
remorseless progress of the flames. If their skill and exertion had 
been never so great, however, it would not have availed long ; for at 
three o'clock in the morning the house of the engines which pump 
from the lake the city's water supply caught fire in its roof (which 
had been built of pine !), and the engines were quickly disabled. 
The reservoirs, which are small, had been already exhausted, hence, 
as soon as the pumps ceased to work, the hydrants ceased to yield 
when eagerly resorted to by hundreds of householders in defense 
of their homes. But for this unfortunate occurrence, several of the 
fine residences in the North Division would have been saved ; also, 
probably, a narrow strip of the best built business structures, situ- 
ated east of State street, which were not attacked until after day- 
light, and which were defended by large forces of men, ready to 
keep them drenched with water, and able to maintain their posi- 
tions, since they were on the flank, rather than in front of the fiery 
column. 

The Population i?i the Emergency. — The scenes attendant upon 
this deluge of flame will have to be left mostly to the imagination of 
the reader who did not witness them, since no description — cer- 
tainly none which might appropriately be inserted in these crowded 
pages — can convey any adequate idea of the sights, the sounds, the 
misery, the terror, the sudden consternation, the frantic rushing, 
the manifold examples of sublime heroism, the still more numerous 
instances of base cowardice and desperate villainy which that ter- 
rible night and agonizing day succeeding witnessed. The inhabi- 
tants of Chicago, unlike those of the rural parts of the Northwest, 
who suffered in the series of conflagrations of which this was one, 

were not, as a rule, prone to take alarm and become literally awe- 
6 



82 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

stricken at the dread manifestation. On the contrary, many who 
had been gazing for hours upon the scene from a distance, failed to 
see that their own homes were doomed as well, and to take the 
measures of self-defence called for by the emergency. This was 
especially true of the people in the North Division, where the ruin 
was most complete; where not only ninety-nine dwellings in every 
hundred were destroyed, but where also the loss of life and of 
household goods was the most serious. 

This was owing chiefly to the cause just mentioned; and the 
rapidity of the fiery stream was not its only dangerous property. It 
advanced as a skillful general would push his army through an 
enemy's territory — throwing out separate columns, and pouncing 
down far forward when and where least expected ; by which means 
the poor victims found themselves surrounded by flames before 
dreaming their its near approach. Thanks, however, to the straight, 
broad, open streets of Chicago, nearly all of them thoroughfares, the 
loss of life through this means was less than it would have been 
in almost every other city. 

Fatalities. — The stampede to the west side of the river was at 
one time so great, that a crowd of people attempting to cross Chi- 
cago Avenue bridge, and unable to cross as rapidly as they poured 
into that thoroughfare from all sides, were overtaken by the fiery 
demon, and some forty or fifty of them perished in attempting to 
reach the next bridge to the north. 

The number of deaths from burning, which came to the know- 
ledge of the public authorities, either through the identifying of the 
remains of the victims, or through other equally positive sources of 
information, numbered about one hundred and fifty ; and the most 
intelligent estimates obtainable — those of the coroner and County 
physician — place the total number of deaths during or immediately 
following the fire, and caused by it, at three hundred. This does 
not include still-born children, of which there were many, at least 
one hundred and fifty women having been delivered prematurely 
during the day and night of the 9th.* 

The Losses. — Estimates of the material losses by the Chicago fire 
differ greatly, according to the basis of reckoning and the appraisal 
of values, always arbitrary. A few things are certain. There 

* For a full and carefully edited transcript of all the incidents of the great 
Chicago conflagration, together with copious statistics of losses, etc., the reader is 
referred to the work of Messrs. Colbert & Chamberlin on the subject. Chicago : 
Jansen, McClurg & Co. 



LOSSES BY THE FIRE. 



83 



were 2,100 acres of land burned over, nearly all of which area was 
thickly covered with buildings; there were nearly 18,000 buildings 
destroyed, of which about 2,400 were stores and factories; and 
there were but few short of 100,000 people rendered homeless by 
the calamity. The district burned over is bounded on the south by 
Taylor Street (to the river), and Harrison Street (from Griswold 
Street east) ; on the west by Jefferson to Harrison, and thence north 
by a line working eastwardly to and along the South Branch, thence 
north [by west along up the ])Torth Branch and streets which are 
nearly a prolongation of Desplaines Street ; north by an irregular 
line, losing itself on Lincoln Park near Fullerton Avenue ; and east 
by Lake Michigan. The extreme length of the burnt district is 
3^ miles, and its greatest width a little over 1 mile. By geographi- 
cal divisions, Mr. Colbert gives the result as follows : 

NORTH. 

Houses destroyed __ 13,300 

Persons made homeless 74,45° 

Acres burned over i>45° 

The same authority calculates the total losses at $192,000,000, 
exclusive of indirect damage, evidences of indebtedness, nor such 
personal effects as were not marketable. Some of the details of this 
calculation are as follows : 



SOUTH. 


WEST. 


3>650 


500 


27,800 


2,250 


460 


194 



Govt. Buildings, Streets, 

etc $6,298,750 

Railroad Depots & Stock 1,760,000 
Newspaper Property (9 

Dailies) 880,000 

Hotels 2, 890,000 

Theatres and Halls 865,000 

Public Schools 249,780 

Churches* 3,000,000 

79 Principal Commercial 

Blocks 8,015,000 

Grain Elevators 2,100,000 

Lumber in Yards 1,040,000 

Banks _ _ 1,000,000 

J / ■ 



Dry Goods Merchandise. 10,000,000 

Drugs " 1,000,000 

Boots and Shoes " 3,500,000 

Leather and Stock " 1,750,000 

Grocers' " 4,120,000 

Clothing " 3,650,000 

Hardware " 4,510,000 

Millinery " 1,610,000 

Hats and Caps " 1,060,000 

Paper Stock " 700,000 

Musical " 900,000 

Household Property 41,000,000 

Other Personal Effects .. 17,710,000 



^Catholic . . $1,350,000 

Episcopal 337,500 

Methodist 355,000 

Presbyterian . 465,000 

Baptist... 80,000 

Congregational 75 ,000 

Israelite 



55,ooo 



Other Denominations 252,500 

Total , .. $3,000,000 



84 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

The public buildings burned included the Custom House and 
Postoffice, in which $2,130,000 in money, chiefly specie, was des- 
troyed, the vaults having been improperly constructed, and having 
therefore proved much less fire-proof than those of most business 
buildings in the city. They also included the Court House, with 
all its archives ($1, 100,000) ; the Chamber of Commerce ($284,000) ; 
the central police court and jail (called the Armory) ; two other 
police stations and seven engine houses. The destruction of side- 
walks (121^ miles) involved a loss of nearly $1,000,000. There 
were eight bridges burned down, worth $200,000. The great Cen- 
tral and Southern depots were burned down, the latter of which has 
been rebuilt at a cost about equal to that of both the former 
structures. 

Among the hotels burned were the Sherman, worth $360,000 
(since rebuilt at $600,000), the Palmer, worth $250,000 (succeeded 
by the grand Palmer House, not on the same site, worth $1,250,000),. 
and the Tremont, worth $200,000 (since re-built at $500,000). Among 
the theatres was Crosby's grand Opera House, then the finest in 
America, which had just been refurnished at a cost of $80,000, and 
which had never been seen in its new garniture by the public. 

The number of buildings burned was 30 per cent, of all in the 
city ; their value at least 50 per cent. Of grain, 1,642,000 bushels,, 
or 26 per cent, of the amouunt in store ; of lumber, about the same 
per cent., viz. : 67,500,000 feet, and 2,000,000 lath and shingles. Of 
mercantile stock and properties, the loss reached 80 per cent, of the 
whole. 

It will be seen that the most of these sums are in round numbers,, 
showing that they are estimated. The computation was done from 
careful data, however, and has not been called seriously in question- 
It makes the total calculable loss of property $192,000,000, after 
allowing $4,000,000 for salvage on foundations of buildings. This 
estimate does not include the shrinkage of real estate values, which 
was thought to amount to 30 per cent, of the marketable values of 
the day before the fire, or $88,000,000 in all. The calculation rela- 
tive to real estate was made, it should be noted, a month or six weeks 
after the fire, when it had been found that the city was to " rise again,"' 
as the motto was in those days. But this estimate had to be revised,, 
in what way will appear further on. 

There was also a large loss to the mercantile interest by the inter- 
ruption of trade consequent upon the destruction of stocks and of 



SUMMARY OF LOSSES. 85 

business facilities was estimated at $10,000,000 more, or 8 per cent, 
net profits on $125,000,000 worth of business.. We should, however, 
in the light of the subsequent month's history, place the amount of 
trade diverted from Chicago by the catastrophe at a much larger 
figure. Ordinarily, the " consequential damages " arising from the 
impairment of the capital of Chicago merchants would be expected 
to be very serious, since we all know that a merchant with large cap- 
ital can buy lower, and consequently sell more, than he with a smaller 
capital. But in the cases of the Chicago merchants, who had estab- 
lished an A 1 character at tjae East, there was not a disadvantage 
experienced that was not anticipated and offset by the generous aid 
extended by the importers and manufacturers with whom they dealt. 
Taking all these facts into consideration, and declining to reckon in 
the temporary depreciation of real estate as a part of the losses en- 
dured, we must still place the grand aggregate not very much below 
the $290,000,000 estimated by Mr. Colbert, the fact being that there 
were a great many sources of loss not reckoned in footing up this 
$290,000,000, one of the most serious of which was the enhanced 
cost of living and of doing business, consequent upon the sudden 
destruction of urban and co-operative facilities, forcing the people 
back upon more primitive ways and less comfortable belongings, 
while at the same time enhancing their expenses ; also scattering 
trade and population to the three ends of the city, and thus necessi- 
tating a vast amount of expensive cartage, porterage, and messenger 
service. 



AFTER THE FIRE. 



The Calamity of Chicago as a Test of Human Nature — A Rather Awkward 
Situation — Quick Relief — A Prodigy of Cheapness in Household Outfitting 

— A Period of Panic — An Epidemic of Incendiaries and no Water to be Had 

— Business Reorganized — What the Banks and Board of Trade Did— A 
Southern Seer and What he Phrophesied — Trade in Strange Haunts — Settle- 
ment with New York — A Splendid Performance — A Real Estate Manoeuvre 
of Certain Jobbers — Kindly but Careful Action of the State Legislature. 



AT the risk of being accused by the outside reader of a grim 
attempt at a joke, we remark, that the effect of all this disaster 
was somewhat depressing to the feelings of the population of Chicago. 
The fact will not, however, bear a much stronger expression ; and it 
must be added, at once, that the mental perturbation observable on 
the nth, was the result rather of the shocks experienced and suffer- 
ing endured or witnessed on the 9th and 10th, than of any discour- 
agement drawn from the situation on the nth ; — as good an illustra- 
tion probably, certainly as extensive, as was ever furnished of the 
wonderful elasticity of our human nature. 

That elasticity was probably found a little more perfectly developed 
in Chicago than it would have been in any city not American and 
Western, but yet it is by no means peculiar to Chicago. And certainly 
much credit must be awarded to the buoyancy of spirit which would 
attempt anything — hope for anything — in the face of a situation 
such as greeted the inhabitants of the destroyed city on the morning 
of the eleventh of October, A. D. 187 1, the day when the con- 
suming element was first found to be under human control. 

What was that situation ? 

A square mile of ashes and debris in lieu of the square mile of 
stately warehouses and rattling factories, teeming docks and crowded 
streets ; 

Three more square miles of blackened waste, relieved only by 



RELIEF FOR THE SUFFERING. 87 

occasional chimneys or jagged walls, and made horrible by charred 
corpses ; 

A hundred thousand people without shelter and twice as many 
more without water, and with dubious prospects of food ; 

A city corporation disorganized, demoralized, and holding up its 
hands in distressful appeals for help ; 

A reign of terror impending on account of rumors freely circulated 
of incendiaries and robbers at work everywhere ; 

General and complete financial prostration ; indemnity being of 
course impracticable and salvage hopeless, — all the contents of safes 
that had been got at thus far had proved worthless ; 

No churches, no newspapers, no police, no telegraph, no public 
institution of any sort on which the devout, the inquiring, the timid, 
could lean in such an emergency ; — 

It was a situation such as would seemingly tend to discourage any 
ordinary community. Perhaps it was for this reason that the Chicago 
community refused to be discouraged. 

Relief for the Suffering. — The first thing to do was to procure 
shelter for the homeless and hungry ; surgery for the sick and wound- 
ed ; clothing for the naked ; protection for the defenceless. Toward 
this beneficent end, steps were taken as early as noon of the 9th, 
while the conflagration was still at its height. At about that hour, 
the Mayor and the President of the Common Council were laying 
their heads together to organize relief, and half a dozen cities were 
bestirring themselves to send articles which both instinct and reason 
told them would be needed in Chicago. By eight o'clock on the 
evening of the 9th, a car-load of provisions had arrived from Mil- 
waukee, and by nine the next morning, the arrivals had reached at 
least fifty car loads, and they kept coming until the Chicago author- 
ities were forced to cry " enough." 

Money came pouring in, too, like water, the cash contributions 
reaching $4,200,000 within three months, and being sent from all 
parts of the world, even from our antipodes. The aid thus promptly 
and munificently contributed, was efficiently administered by the Aid 
and Relief Society, a chartered institution, which happened to be 
exceedingly well officered, and which did its difficult task with sur- 
prising acceptability to the parties concerned. Barracks were built 
for the reception of the houseless, and then the Society began the 
erection of separate houses for families, the barrack style of life 
proving unhealthy, both morally and physically. Over 4,000 of these 



88 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

houses had been built within the first five weeks of the Relief Socie- 
ty's work ; and what is more wonderful, in view of the fearful scarcity 
of lumber and housefurnishing materials, they had been built and 
furnished with a cook-stove, mattrass, bedding, and half a ton of coal 
to each, at a $110 per house. 

By the evening of the nth, every victim of the conflagration had 
good food in plenty, and all his other pressing physical wants had 
been attended to ; and on the evening of the 17th, eight days after 
the water supply had stopped, the pumping machinery was again got 
under way, so that by the next morning every household had water 
without being longer forced to buy it from cart boys who had dipped 
it up from places none too clean. 

A Panic Period. — One of the results of a scarce water supply had 
been an acute fear of further calamities by fire, the weather still con- 
tinuing dangerously dry, although a slight rain had fallen on the night 
of the 9th. It was generally believed that the town was infested by 
thieves who had come on from New York to reap the harvest which 
the fire-fiend had sown for them. Accordingly there was a general 
demand for a large reinforcement of the police department, which 
somehow did n't seem to count for much during those days ; and 
citizens volunteered by hundreds for patrol duty. 

Business Re-organized. — Chicago is distinguished more by her bu- 
siness achievements than by her social or political achievements ; 
and this quality exemplified itself during this crisis in her career. 
Before the community had time to compose itself for a square look 
at the situation, the business element of it had already struck an 
aggressive attitude — not formed in solid phalanx for defence, but 
deployed (in very queer and straggling lines, too) for a renewal of 
the attack. The merchants of Chicago proved to be of much better 
stuff than had been supposed, even by Chicago people, the charge 
having been quite generally made against them that they were too 
bold for safety in time of trouble — that they were doing a danger- 
ously large business on a dangerously small capital. 

Wasted Tears. — Accordingly, when the shock of disaster came, it 
was considered so certain that not one Chicago merchant in a score 
could resume business on anything like the former scale, that the 
press and people of " rival " cities could only refer to Chicago in the 
past tense. One of the oldest and supposedly the most influential of 
the New Orleans papers, after assuring its readers, shortly after the 
fire, that a large portion of our population had " deserted," and that 



THE MERCHANTS AFTER THE FIRE. 89 

our merchants, such of them as had anything left to transfer, were 
" transferring their business to St. Louis," added : 

" No doubt the people of Chicago will struggle earnestly against their adverse 
fate, and that a new city will arise speedily from the ashes of the old one ; but it 
will never be the Carthage of old. Its prestige has passed away, like that of a man 
who turns the downward hill of life ; its glory will be of the past, not the present ; 
while its hopes, once so bright and cloudless, will be to the end marred and black- 
ened by the smoke of its fiery fate." 

This was a very natural view to be taken in New Orleans or Jeru- 
salem ; but New York, London — the East, the West, and all that 
part of Christendom lying north of the fortieth parallel of latitude, 
were ten times nearer to us, in fact and feeling, than our geographical 
neighbor at the mouth of the river over whose valley Chicago presides 
as its commercial capital. Accordingly everybody else, except the 
people in Dixie and the Moon, felt certain that Chicago would rise 
again as grand as ever ; but nobody had the prescience to predict 
during the first few weeks after such a before-unheard-of, undreamed- 
of calamity, that the resurrection would be as rapid as it was. 

" Elan " of the Chicago Merchants. — It has been seen that nine- 
teen-twentieths of all the mercantile stocks in the city were consumed 
by the fire. It was believed for several days that next to nothing 
would be recovered from the insurance companies (and, in fact, less 
than twenty per cent, of all the losses was recovered from the under- 
writers). Further, the fall business had just fairly set in when the 
fire came, and that it was utterly hopeless to think of finding freight- 
ing and storing facilities for new stocks in season to catch even the 
; ' last run " of that trade, even if the merchants could raise means 
or credit to buy the goods. Hence the reader will readily under- 
stand that the business outlook on the ioth day of October, A. D. 
1 87 1, was rather unfavorable. In fact, it was what might be called 
squally. The leading New York jobbers, of whom any one in twenty 
would, on that day, have given a round million to be indemnified for his 
own individual loss through failures supposed to be caused by the 
fire, found, on meeting their debtors in a fortnight later, that the ag- 
gregate loss on Chicago debts would be not over a million. Here is 
a statement of the case from the New York " Bulletin " of Nov. 2, 
187 1, which tells the whole story in a nutshell : 

" There are about twenty firms, representing by far the greater part of the 
indebtedness, who pay in full at maturity. Another firm, having probably the 
largest indebtedness of any one house there, meets its paper in full, but at an aver- 



90 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

age extension of a year and three quarters, and at six per cent, interest. One or 
two other firms, with a comparatively limited indebtedness, get extensions averag- 
ing from nine months to a year, and propose to pay in full, but without interest. 
Four of the leading firms, representing aggregate liabilities to the amount of $1,- 
500,000, compromise at an average of sixty cents, payable at periods ranging from 
three to twelve months, without interest. This showing comprises all of the 
wholesale and larger retail Chicago houses that have suffered, and here we have an 
actual loss not exceeding $600,000. Making liberal allowances for the possible 
losses that some of our jobbing houses may sustain through the small retailers, 
therefore we think that it may be safely estimated that $1,000,000 will pay all the 
actual losses sustained by our dry goods merchants ; and this estimate is entertained 
by our most intelligent merchants. That this is far below what dealers expected, 
may be inferred from the fact that, on the day after the fire, one of our largest job- 
bing firms estimated their losses at about $1,000,000, reckoning, among the credi- 
tors with whom they would have to make liberal compromises, several houses who 
have since announced their ability to meet their liabilities in full, and promptly, at 
maturity. The favorable settlements have had the effect of restoring confidence 
among merchants ; and even those most given to croaking fail to see how the dis- 
aster is likely to bring panic upon the dry goods interest through their direct 
losses. The clothing trade was largely represented in Chicago ; but out of the 
eight or ten large houses there, not one, we believe, has asked for an extension over 
any great length of time. The result shows the Chicago dry goods merchants to 
have been more solid, financially, than they had been supposed to be by merchants 
generally, although the fact that most of them purchased their goods on very short 
time always made them favorite customers in this market. Those who held encum- 
bered real estate are pinched the most by their losses ; but even those are likely to 
be able to weather the storm, without sacrificing their property at its present depre- 
ciated value, by the aid of the liberal extensions which their creditors have 
readily accepted." 

The fact is that some of our merchants, notably the members of 
a prominent dry goods jobbing house (doubtless the same one re- 
ferred to as taking an extension), not only held " encumbered real 
estate," but went vigorously to buying real estate, on speculation, with- 
in three days after the fire ceased its ravages — their object being to 
develop values by creating a new, first-class, wholesaling district. 
This movement has proved so far a success, that there is a certain 
square and a half of ground, fronting on Madison and Market 
Streets, upon which $65,000,000 worth of merchandizing business 
was transacted during the year 1872, whereas, a single hundred 
thousand would have told the story, for the same tract, in 1871. 
The value has not, of course, risen correspondingly. It has in- 
creased, however, from $400 @ $700 to $800 @ $1,500, in spite of 
the general refusal of trade to be diverted from its chosen location 
of ante-fire times. 



A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION. 9 1 

Business in Queer Quarters. — We have failed to describe, in its 
logical sequence, the steps by which business regained its popular 
status; nor have we space in which to narrate graphically, as the 
subject deserves, the remarkable and never-to-be-forgotten onset — 
"scramble," we might call it, if that were a dignified word — of the 
merchants, bankers, publishers, etc., after the few remaining stores 
and offices, parlors, bed-rooms — anything that might be occupied 
as a temporary place of business. Thousands of such were rented 
before the embers had cooled at the old place — before it was 
known whether there was anything left in the safe there buried. 
More than one merchant, wnose home happened to be spared, had 
rented a new place before going home to breakfast, after beholding 
the ruin of his store consummated on that dreadful Monday morn- 
ing. Mr. John -R. Walsh, President and Manager of the Western 
News Company, was, to the writer's knowledge, one of this enter- 
prising class. 

The Leaders Prove Plucky . — The Board of Trade, — the only 
commercial organization Chicago had (or has) that is worth men- 
tioning as an organized and representative body — was prompt in 
reviving business as well as in taking measures for the relief of suf- 
fering. On Tuesday, while yet a considerable portion of the North 
Division was on fire, the Board moved into new quarters on Canal 
street, and resumed business, having resolved, first of all, to require 
the honoring of all contracts. On Wednesday the bankers met. 
Their funds had been largely placed, as usual at this season of the 
year, out on " grain paper," i. <?., warehouse receipts for grain that 
was burnt up, belonging to men who were ruined. Notwithstanding 
which, the bankers resolved to go on and pay depositors in full, on 
demand. It took pluck to do this — and a good deal of assurance 
some will say, in view of the fact, that scarcely a safe in all the town 
had yet been opened which showed its contents in good order. 

These movements of the bankers and dealers, added to some as- 
surances which had began to be telegraphed from the best Eastern 
and English insurance companies, and the clarion voices of the 
press, which began to be raised as early as Tuesday with " Resurg- 
am " for its burden, inspired general confidence, and the wretched 
looking streets which skirted the Burnt District, began to swarm with 
nervous workers and to ring with cheery words. 

Paternal Solicitude of the State. — Pretty soon the State govern- 
ment withdrew the armed protection which it had felt called upon to 



9 2 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



offer, and sent, instead of it, an installment of the $3,000,000 with 
which it then voted to reimburse the city for its expenditure for the 
canal enlargement, thus placing the city in the possession of much 
needed funds for use upon her ruined public works. 

The Legislature, which had been called in extra session for the 
purpose, and of which were expected many new laws supposed to 
be called for the exigencies of the case, did little else except to take 
the city's canal off her hands, something which the State had reserved 
to itself the option of doing. There was much ado made over a law 
establishing land titles on a better basis ; also acts abating all taxes ; 
but neither of these was enacted, nor any further relief granted or 
asked for, except by an occasional impulsive person, here and there. 
What is particularly gratifying to remember, as contrasting with the 
action of Western legislatures in earlier days, no public obligation 
was repudiated and no stay law for private debtors enacted or asked 
for. 



THE NEW CHICAGO. 



The Fire Simply an Episode, not a -Crisis — A "Ruined" City's Business for the 
First Year of Nonentity — Astonishing Figures, which Won't Lie — Marked 
Increase in Every Line of Traffic — Rebuilding — A Marvelous Record — 
Total of Frontage and Values for Two Years — Status of Public Buildings — 
The Architects in Clover — Character of the Architecture of The New Chicago. 

THERE were two things connected with the fire which were 
more wonderful than the great conflagration itself. Or, 
rather, let me say, more memorable, since there was really nothing 
wonderful about the fire. The candid investigator of all the cir- 
cumstances antecedent to and attendant upon the fire can hardly 
fail to be impressed with a view similar to that of the Hibernian who 
was expected to wonder at Niagara, and who, after gazing upon the 
sight, asked what there was wonderful about it ; and being referred 
to the vast volume of water rushing over the mighty precipice,wanted 
to know ; ' what was to hinder it ?" Given, a city spread over a broad 
prairie ; a few square miles of kindling-wood, prepared for ignition 
by three days of hot, parching winds ; and a tired and demoralized 
fire department, which circumstances combined with a faulty system 
to give the blaze a good start among the windward shanties ; and 
added to these, an extra fierce wind, sufficient to waft fire-brands of 
no small size a distance of a mile or more, and also to serve perfectly 
the purpose which a blow-pipe serves to a furnace ; and we have all 
the conditions necessary to a conflagration like Chicago's ; so that 
only another city like the old Chicago is necessary to make the 
same set of meteorological phenomena bring about the same disaster 
again, here or elsewhere. 

The Fire No Crisis. — It is quite as difficult to bring ourselves to 
consider the Chicago fire a disaster or a crisis in Chicago's history, as 
it is to consider it "the greatest of modern wonders," as many have 
denominated it. The fire marked less of an epoch in Chicago's his- 



94 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

tory than the canal, or the railroad system, or the war, which devel- 
oped the capital of her merchants, and made her a great importing 
emporium, instead of a distributing station for the seaport cities. 

Really, the fire was a simple episode, rather than a crisis ; an ex- 
periment, to test of what stuff she was made, by what springs the 
acts of our humanity were impelled, and how the new phase of civ- 
ilization developed by the railway, the telegraph, cheap postage, and 
free press was organized — whether it was worth more than the civ- 
ilization we used to have. As such an experiment, the fire was a 
success, and its result extremely gratifying. 

A Ruined City's Business. — In proof of what we have said, which 
may seem like a rather flippant treatment of a terrible event, we 
mention that the aggregate of business done in Chicago, leaving the 
business of rebuilding out of the account, was much greater during the year 
after than during the year before the fire. 

The wholesale merchandizing trade, according to the "Tribune's" 
figures, increased from $135,350,000 to $155,550,000; a gain of fif- 
teen per cent. 

The receipts of grain in the same period increased 8,425,885 
bushels; viz., from 79,094,866 bushels to 86,992,141 bushels. 

The receipts of live-stock during the year ending October 1, 
1872, were 4,298,442 head, while those during the year ending 
October 1, preceding the fire, had been but 3,325,576. 

The receipts of only three commodities, out of thirteen others 
scheduled in the Board of Trade reports, shows a decrease in 1872, 
as compared with 1871; the increase in cured meats, pork, salt, 
highwines and wool being very marked — not less'than $$% per 
cent, on the average. 

The average deposits in the leading banks increased as follows : 

1871. 1872. 

First National, $3,200,000 3,600,000 

Commercial National 1,500,000 2,000,000 

Cook County National 1,500,000 1,800,000 

National Bank of Illinois 180,000 690,000 

Fifth National 1,100,000 .... 1,300,000 

And the number of banking institutions increased largely during 
the year. What is perhaps still more remarkable, the banks found, 
on resuming business in the prompt manner referred to in the pre- 
ceding chapters, that they were made permanent losers of less than 



REBUILDING. 95 

five dollars in a thousand on the average of the amount of outstand- 
ing bills. 

Rebuilding. — Of the two things referred to above as being more 
remarkable than the fire itself, we did not intend that the business 
elasticity of the Chicago merchants should be reckoned as one. 
They are : 

First, — The mighty manifestation of a world-wide society or 
brotherhood. The discovery that it exists in such degree as it was 
then proved, and the fact that it can be increased so promptly and 
adequately, its divine functions are alike to be admired and remem- 
bered — by none so much as by the inhabitants of Chicago, who 
were at the favored center of these converging chords of sympathy. 

Second, — The achievements of a single year towards rebuilding the 
city-full of destroyed edifices — a feat which astonished the people 
of Chicago quite as much (or would have done so, but for their total 
incapacity for being astonished,) as any outsider could have been. 

Summary of Values and Frontage. — Of the buildings destroyed, 
probably nine-tenths, in value, were located in the South Division, 
occupying what is called the business quarter par excellence. This 
district included, all together, 110,000 feet of street front, of which, 
at least 30,000 feet was either vacant or occupied by frame shanties, 
relics of the early day. Of the 80,000 feet remaining in this dis- 
trict, 52,792 feet was covered, one year after the fire, by permanent 
brick and stone structures, either completed or in process of erec- 
tion. The value of these buildings was placed at $38,154,700, and 
that of all buildings then in process of erection or already com- 
pleted, at $45,558,200. This was the highest estimate, while the 
lowest placed the total at about $40,000,000. We are satisfied that 
the lowest estimate of the cost was too high, though in respect to 
the extent of frontage covered there was almost perfect exactness, 
for obvious reasons. It should be remarked, however, that it included 
many large buildings which were not completed until far into 1873. 

In the North and West Divisions, the amount of work accom- 
plished was naturally far less. The figures which we accept place 
the total frontage of permanent buildings in the North Division at 
7,691 feet, and the value at $6,425,000; in the West Division, front- 
age 891 feet, value $998,500. Total frontage in the three divisions 
of the city 60,324 feet. 

(The figures for the West Division do not, of course, include the 
Messrs. McCormick's reaper works, begun in September, 1872, and 



96 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

having a total frontage of 2,942 feet — considerably over half a 
mile. It is also well to bear in mind that among the achievements 
of the year mentioned in the North Division, was the building of 
over 7,000 frame dwellings, mostly cheap cottages, and a majority of 
them the work of the Relief Society.) 

Among the buildings included in the general aggregate was the 
new Chamber of Commerce, into which the Board of Trade moved 
on the anniversary of the fire, and which had cost $365,000 ; the 
Sherman House (occupied April 1, 1873,) which cost $650,000; the 
Pacific Hotel, which cost $1,000,000; the Michigan Southern and 
Lake Shore railway depot, which cost $750,000, and which was not 
opened until 1st of June, 1873 ; and even the Palmer House, which 
has but recently been occupied as this book goes to press. 

We observe |also that the valuations are in some cases excessive, 
though they are enough below the true figure in others to nearly 
equate the whole of the sum set down in the total. It is a fact, how- 
ever, that all the newspapers, in their statements last October, pil- 
fered somewhat from the credit of the second year to round out the 
record of the first. This was done especially in the case of the 
higher grade of buildings — those which cost at last year's prices, 
far over the average of $750 per front foot. Let us take that sum as 
a just mean of the cost of last year's building and $500 — i^-^zVz P er 
cent, less — as a fair average of this year's. Let us also deduct 5,000 
feet from the frontage reckoned in last year's total as belonging more 
properly in this year's. This reduces the value of last year's im- 
provements to $41,800,000, and the frontage to 55,324 feet — a figure 
which will be reached this year, and which yields as the aggregate 
value of the improvements of the year ending Oct. 1, 1873, $27,662,- 
000. Total for the two years, $69,462,000. This applies^only to 
permanent structures of brick, iron and stone. The number of 
dwellings costing from $500 to $10,000 each, outside of the fire 
limits, and so scattered as to be out of the reach of the statistician is 
enormous — so much so that these structures are customarily reck- 
oned by the acre, rather than by number. 

Proportion of Costly Buildings. — We find that of the structures 
erected or in progress on the 9th of October, 1872, two, (the Post Office 
and the Palmer hotel,) were to cost over $1,000,000 ; three, (the Michi- 
gan Southern railway depot, and the Pacific and Sherman hotels,) 
over $500,000; and of 73 the cost is placed at or above $100,000. 
All of the buildings included in any of the above lists and esti- 



RECONSTRUCTION. 97 

mates were built according to a fire ordinance which required walls 
of substantial masonry, and of certain prescribed thickness accord- 
ing to the height of the building, and many of them have been built 
thoroughly fire-proof, regardless of cost. The architecture of the 
city has much more variety than formerly, and the material, as well 
as the style, is very diverse. A favorite variety of building stone 
having been found in close proximity to Cincinnati — the same sand- 
stone of which that city has hitherto built nearly all her better fronts 
— the demand from Chicago has almost entirely superseded that 
from Cincinnati herself. 

Harvest of the Architects. — The year succeeding the fire was nat- 
urally a year of rich harvests for the architects. From a table before 
us, of the work of forty architects (nearly all then working), we learn 
that ten of the number each had in hand buildings aggregating more 
than a million of dollars in value. The greatest frontage was returned 
by Messrs. Burling & Adler, 8,875 feet; and the greatest value of 
buildings under charge, by Mr. W. W. Boyington, $5,815,500, the 
architect's commissions on which, at 2^ per cent., would foot up at 
$145,387.50 — a very good year's income for a professional man. 
Messrs. Wheelock & Thomas had in the same period 3,523 feet of 
frontage, the buildings on which were valued at $3,426,000 ; and 
Messrs. F. & E. Baumann, 8,529 feet, value $3,090,000. There are 
now ninety-three architects practicing their profession — that is, 
doing business for themselves — in Chicago. 

Fine Structures of 1873. — The architecture of the buildings fin- 
ished during the year ending October 9, 1873, is of even higher 
character than that of the preceding year. Among these are the 
three grand hotels already named ; the Michigan Southern railway 
depot, the Honore hotel, corner of Dearborn and Adams streets, the 
Gallup & Hitchcock building, which, with a depth of only 80 feet, 
cost about $4,000 per front foot; the Reaper block (C. H. McCor- 
mick's) on Clark street, opposite the Court House ; the Lakeside 
buiding (Clark street, opposite new Post Office) ; the Matteson 
House; the 'Times" building; the Busby and Stewart building, 
occupying the former sites of the Crosby Opera House, St. James 
Hotel and Music Hall ; and the Tremont House, a very ornate and 
elaborately finished structure, costing $500,000, on the site of the 
old Tremont. 

The new Post Office and Custom House, for which, including 
the site ($1,200,000) the national government has already appropri- 
7 



9 8 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



ated $4,000,000, is, like other great bodies, moving slowly, though it 
employs the labor of over 500 men. The dimensions of the structure 
are to be 243 by 211 feet, and its utmost height 197 feet. Its walls 
have, at this writing, just begun to show themselves above ground. 
The building will be in the Florentine-Romanesque style of archi- 
tecture, and of the Buena Vista, Ohio, sandstone — a very fine-grained 




Post Office and Custom House. 

stone, of rich but sober gray-brown color. The outlines of this im- 
portant structure, as designed by Mr. Mullett, are shown in the 
above cut. 

The County Jail and Criminal Court, now nearly completed, will 
be the most expensive and substantial edifice as yet erected in the 
North division of the city. Its estimated cost is about $600,000. 









Part II. 



CURRENT RECORD. 



AND 



DESCRIPTION. 



RAILROADS OF CHICAGO. 

There are 70,034 Miles of Railway on the the Continent — One-third of them Feed 
Chicago's Markets — Detailed Statement of the Location and Mileage of the 
Chicago Railway Systems — Railways the Great Wealth-Makers — Facts and 
Figures to Open the Eyes of Conservatives and Croakers. 

Routes and Tonnage. — The latest accurate statistics make the 
aggregate length of all the railroads in actual operation in the 
United States 66,491.24 miles. With this may very necessarily 
be included, in a question of this character, the Canadian roads, 
3,573.50 miles, making a grand aggregate of 70,064.74 miles, to 
which, probably at no distant day, may be added, besides all other 
increase, prolongations into Mexico. 

The aggregate length of railroad line in America has now just 
reached that of all the water routes in the country, and will soon 
far surpass these boasted American advantages in mere length, as it 
has already excelled them in usefulness and developing power. 

It has been found that the average value of all the commodities 
transported in the United States, by rail or otherwise, was about 
$150.00 per ton in 1872. As the aggregate net tonnage of all the 
railroads in the United States, not including other transportation 
nor any tonnage in Canada, was, for the same year, 100,000,000 tons, 
the value of marketable property carried on the railroads in a single 
year must have been, in the United States, fifteen thousand millions 
($15,000,000,000). Taking the population, for convenience, at 
40,000,000 (38,558,391), the result is $375.00 worth of railroad trans- 
portation for every man, woman and child in the Union. This does 
not include produce or manufactured products received by the con- 
sumer from the wagon of the producer, or consumed or exported 
after transportation solely by river, canal, or in any manner not by 
rail; which, it has been estimated, would double that sum. Ton- 
nage, of course, increases as population, and, consequently, produc- 
tion and consumption do. 



102 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Railroads Create Wealth, — But the increase of tonnage is at a rate 
higher than that of population, in proportion to the increase of rail- 
road transportation. This tonnage represents the wealth of the 
country. Upon principles familiar to political economists, the accu- 
mulated property and the land of the most opulent people would not 
avert swift and 'general impoverishment if production should even 
fall seriously behind; since the total value of all a people consume 
is so great that, if it had to come out of their capital, all the prop- 
erty of the community would not sustain some commonwealths for 
a single year. Railroads, therefore, in an emphatic sense, create 
wealth, by enabling industry to produce so much more. 

Chicago the Child of Railroads. — And this stupendous agent of 
prosperity, with its capacity for infinite harm or good, may be said to 
have originated since 185 1, up to which date, when the New York 
and Erie railroad opened, the method was practically on trial. It 
thence became a system, and as such has simply expanded. 
The ocean built Tyre and Carthage. Aleppo was the child of a 
route for the camel and the pilgrim ; St. Louis was predestined when 
the Mississippi opened its way; but Chicago is peculiarly the child 
of this new and mighty system. So distinct and inseparable is the 
interdependence between that system at large and the city which has 
spontaneously shot up at the point indicating its focus, that no com- 
prehensive view of the one can logically exclude the other. If a 
railroad be compassed for the Lake Winnipeg region, or up the val- 
ley of the Saskatchawan, in a country more habitable than Sweden, 
a thousand miles north of the source of the Mississippi, it is impos- 
sible to dissociate the thought from Chicago ; if it be suggested that 
without the West, Boston or even New York would languish, the 
idea of a qualified dependence on Chicago is immediately raised. 
The surveys of the Yellowstone Valley, conducted in the interest, 
and at the expense of the nation, are but the exploiting of Chicago 
engineers, the moment it is recollected that the North Pacific railroad 
is to connect that region with the most accessible of the great com- 
mercial marts. Nay, the time has already come when the arrest of 
developing manufactures in California, by the opening of the Pa- 
cific railroads, which exposed them to the competing wares of lower 
paid labor in the East, will engage the pecuniary sagacity of Chi- 
cago in preparing her to be the great Shop for supplying the infinite 
demand of the far West, in time, for manufactured goods. Alaska 
itself is not extolled as a fur trader without implying Chicago as the 



TRIBUTARY RAILROADS. IO3 

future purchaser. The like remark may be made of Texas, and of 
Mexico. The unaccountable but indisputably natural tendency of 
the South-west towards a Lake market, frown at an early day, in 
derogation of the most eligible water connections southward, is 
evidently ineradicable; and a project lor opening, by a few score 
difficult and expensive miles through the mountains of the South, a 
nearly straight route about as long as that to New York, between 
Chicago and Port Royal, on the Atlantic, in South Carolina, which 
has been broached, is likely to test the principle further toward the 
east. 

What Roads are Tributary ? — Such considerations really warrant 
the question, What railways in North America are not in some de- 
gree tributary to Chicago? It is an expressive fact that the corpo- 
rate names of over fifty railroads embrace that of Chicago. The 
numerous petty roads about Boston included, her name appears in 
but twelve; of Philadelphia, but ten; and of New York, but eleven. 
It is not easy to demonstrate, even of a single road, in what its 
" tributary " element consists. 

Anxious to avoid even the appearance of exaggeration, we shall 
ignore the great majority of these fifty courtiers for the favor of the 
country represented by Chicago, and shall, in placing before our 
readers the most comprehensive list yet published of the Chicago 
railroads, with their mileage, confine ourselves for the present to the 
half-dozen great corporations having their eastern terminus and 
principal offices in Chicago. 

The Northwestern System is the oldest, (except the Eastern lines, 
with which the reader is adequately acquainted,) and embraces 
within it the only railroad which Chicago, with her hundred pas- 
senger trains a day, her palatial depots, and her acknowledged char- 
acter as the pivot of the national railway system, ever really evolved 
— a striking proof that the system made her — and will take care 
of her — and not she, the system. 

By the roads comprehended under the title " Northwestern," Wis- 
consin was early made a customer of Chicago, and by the recent 
opening of lines in the Copper and Iron regions of Lake Superior, 
the mines are made definitely tributary to her. Likewise, the Gal- 
ena lead region and the Illinois border on the north. 

The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul System lies largely on the 
west, as the Northwestern lies on the east, of the Mississippi, the 
former being for Minnesota what the latter is for Wisconsin ; but its 



104 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

connections look to a far broader scope in the farther Northwest and 
West. It aspires to be the principal line for the Oregon passenger 
by the North Pacific, and meets at St. Paul the St. Vincent road to 
Pembina, and in time further beyond, in the valley of the Red River 
of the North. On the other hand, it is open to Sioux City on the 
western border of Iowa, where its connections push into Dakota, and 
down the river to Omaha and the Union Pacific . 

The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy System has multiplied its 
shorter ramifications about Western Illinois, and has latterly stretched 
forth for distant points. The Burlington and Missouri River road, 
extending the whole length of Iowa, now virturally consolidated 
with it, stretches this system to Omaha and the Union Pacific, while 
the Cedar Rapids and Minnesota road, also become a part of this 
system, passes through the most flourishing and populous districts 
of Iowa. To the South, the Hannibal and Sedalia division inter- 
poses between St. Louis and West Missouri, and passing, by its defi- 
nite connections, through a part of the Indian Territory and Kan- 
sas, pre-occupies all that region, and passes on to Galveston on the 
Gulf, and to New Orleans. 

The Rock Island and Alton Systems alike thicken the net in Illinois 
and Iowa. The former competes vigorously for the trade of the 
mountains and the Pacific slope, and both have lately pushed their 
lines far into the southwest. 

The Illinois Central System, in common with several of the others, 
embraces Eastern and Western Iowa, and the most of Minnesota in 
its designs. Long lines are already complete, while within the 
State, the parent road is the patriarch of them all — or much more 
literally, their exemplar. We have elsewhere mentioned its origin. 
The whole original road is in Illinois, and yet is 707 miles long ; 
starting at Cairo, proceeding 112 miles north to Centralia, and there 
bifurcating. 

As the latitude of Chicago is not much below that of Boston, 
while that of Cairo is about the same as Norfolk, the comparative 
uniformity of soil, surface and productive capacity in the State of 
Illinois (which, if on the Atlantic coast would stretch almost from 
Massachusetts to North Carolina,) is consistent with great contrast 
in agricultural productions. In this respect, the " North and South 
were bound together with iron" by the Illinois Central Railroad, at 
a very early day. Southern Illinois, which acquired the name of 
" Egypt " in early times from being the resort of newer settlers far- 



RAILROAD SYSTEMS IN DETAIL. 105 

ther north to buy corn, like Jacob and his sons, became afterwards and 
is now rather the garden, from which Chicago and her neighboring 
cities and towns receive their vegetables and many of their fruits. 
Mileage of Chicago Roads. — We give below tables, from the latest 
data, in most cases official and direct, of the principal Chicago rail- 
roads with their mileage ; also the number of railroads intersected, 
or " tapped " by each on its course : 

NORTHWESTERN SYSTEM. intersec- 

Wisconsin Division : MILES. TIONS. 

Main line, to Escanaba 358 12 

Escanaba to Lake Superior 74 I 

Winona to St. Peter 204 4 

Madison Division T48 6 

West Wisconsin, Elroy to St. Paul 197 14 

Kenosha Branch 75 6 

Belvidere and Madison Branch 68 3 

Milwaukee Division : 

Chicago to Fond du Lac, via Milwaukee 145 9 

Galena Division : 

Main Line to Omaha 488 7 

Branch to Dubuque 152 

Branch, Clinton to Maquoketa 35 1 

Total 1944 63 

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL SYSTEM. 

Chicago to St. Paul 324 . 11 

Madison line 37 3 

River Division (LaCrosse to Winona) 27 

Prairie du Chien to Milwaukee 194 5 

McGregor to Minneapolis 212 5 

Janes ville Branch 34 2 

Decorrah Branch 12 

Milwaukee to Portage 98 4 

Mason City & Austin 40 2 

Milwaukee to Oshkosh , 102 3 

Berlin and Winneconne Bran dies 27 

Madison to Portage 29 I 

Iowa & Dakota Division 126 8 

Hastings & Dakota Division 74 2 

Total 1336 

Northern Pacific (Minnesota Division) 449 5 

Total 1785 50 



106 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

In this table no account is made of those divisions of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul road which tend to nourish other cities to a 
greater extent than Chicago, as for instance, the Western Union, 
and the McGregor & Sioux City lines. 

CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY SYSTEM. 

Main line to Quincy . 263 14 

Branch to Burlington 43 2 

Burlington and Missouri River .. . 470 9 

Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota 318 8 

Burlington and Keokuk — 43 1 

Fox River line .. . 61 3 

Buda and Rushville branch no 5 

Galva and Keithsburg branch 54 2 

Elmwood to Peoria 27 2 

Mendota and Clinton __ 66 4 

Carthage division 72 1 

Chicago and Rock River L 47 __!_ 5 

Hannibal to Sedalia, Denison, and Galveston, Texas 963 18 

Total 2,437 74 

The connection with the Gulf of Mexico, via Denison, Kansas, 
over the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line, which has good running 
arrangements with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, has been 
achieved within a few weeks, and is the first opening of convenient 
railroad traffic between the Great Lakes and the Texas coast. Pass- 
age takes about one hundred hours. 

ROCK-ISLAND SYSTEM. 

Chicago, Rock-Island and Pacific, main line 493 17 

Peoria Branch 46 2 

Indianola and Winterset branch ._ 42 2 

Decatur Air Line (nearly complete) 108 9 

Sigourney Branch 28 

Southwestern (to Leavenworth) _. 321 7 

Atchison Branch . _ 30 I 

Total .... 1,068 38 

CHICAGO AND ALTON SYSTEM. 

Chicago via Louisiana to Kansas City 492 31 

Jacksonville Division 90 4 

Jefferson City Branch.. 51 .... 

Springfield Branch — 154 II . 

Western Division _ 70 6 

Lacon Branch 10 

Total -867 52 



RAILROAD SYSTEMS IN DETAIL. 107 

ILLINOIS CENTRAL SYSTEM. 

Chicago to Cairo 365 28 

Northern Division, Dubuque to Centralia 343 24 

Iowa Division 3 2 7 9 

Chicago, Dubuque and Minnesota 117 n 

Cedar Falls and Minnesota branch 80 2 

Clinton to Springfield - 43 

Total - 1,275 74 

This sum includes that portion of the mileage of the^Chicago, 
Dubuque and Minnesota line which is actually tributary to Chicago, 
and it excludes that portion of the Central Company's own line 
which is not thus tributary. 

OTHER LINES. 

Chicago, Danville and Vincennes 128 13 

Chicago and Pacific 35 

Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore 225 12 

Chicago and Iowa.. 120 5 

Chicago and Paducah 128 22 

Chicago, Pekin and Southwestern 89 7 

Total 725 .... 58 

Grand total of several systems . 10, 101 

Grand total Intersections, etc 409 

(About one in every twenty-five miles.) 

Chicago to the Continent as One to Three. — To the above aggregate 
of 10,101 miles of railroads already centering in Chicago (excluding 
all eastern routes) and operated mainly with reference to Chicago as 
their entrepot of western produce and depot of supply for merchan- 
dise and manufactured articles, must be added the greater part of all 
the mileage of transverse and spur roads in the states of Illinois, 
Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, and in the territories of 
Colorado, Utah, Dakota, and Wyoming; also a full half of all the 
mileage in Kansas and Missouri, and a smaller fraction of all in In- 
diana, Michigan and Arkansas. We are undoubtedly moderate in 
assuming that Chicago has the inside track on three-fourths of the 
additional mileage in the states and territories first named, and one- 
fourth in the last group of states. Of the roads in the several States 
not included in the above named systems, the total mileage operated 



io8 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



in June, 1873, according to Vernon's Manual, the best authority on 

the subject, was as follows : 

Miles. Miles, 

Illinois 3,393 x ^ = 2,545 

Iowa. --1,538 x ^=1,153 

Wisconsin 971 x ^ = 728 

Minnesota 1,418 x ^ = 1,064 

Nebraska 903 x ^ = 677 

Colorado 534 x ^= 400 

Utah _ 371 x }( = 278 

Wyoming 492 x ^ == 369 

Dakota 59 x ^ = 42 

Kansas 2,804 x Yz = 1 A° 2 

Missouri 2,086 x ^ = 1,043 

Indiana 3,600 x X == 9 00 

Michigan 2,598 x ^ = 649 

Arkansas.. 545 x ^ = 136 

Total miles __ 11,386 

Add former total 10,101 

Grand total tributary 21,487 

The column of intersections, etc., introduced into the foregoing 
tables, excludes all manner of connections at termini, named or im- 
plied in the adjacent columns, denoting only transverse, intersecting, 
or actually connecting railroads, completed or in progress, between 
the designated termini. 

Thus, on a basis strictly followed, of railroad mileage actually in 
operation, Chicago is accorded as her tributaries more than one- 
seventh of all the tracks laid on the Continent, viz., 10,101 miles; 
for every twenty-five miles of which there is one or more connecting 
lines for lateral places. But on the more liberal basis, giving a tribu- 
tary mileage of 21,487, the total 70,064 miles on the Continent is but 
about three and one-third times as great as that which will readily 
be accorded to Chicago by all candid readers. 

Railroads make wealth. Chicago has already nearly one-third of 
all the tributary railroads in the country. Hence — The reader can 
easily supply the conclusion. 

Projected Lines. — By all known standards, this showing ought to 
be doubly and trebly satisfactory to the city in whose behalf it 
speaks ; and so it is, so far as mere feeling is concerned. Feeling 
does not govern in this matter, however. Practical necessity gov- 
erns, and practical necessity dictates yet more feeders to Chicago — 



RAIL ROUTES TO THE SEABOARD. 109 

or, rather, outlets to the surrounding country — which are therefore 
in the process of erection. If we include surveying, organizing and 
raising funds as elements in the process of erection, there are a dozen 
important lines in this stage ; but if we include (as perhaps is best, in 
view of the present delicate situation of the railroad stock and bond 
market) only roads which have actually secured the means of con- 
struction, and with those means are now at work upon their lines, we 
shall include only the following among the Chicago railroads now 
being built: 

The Chicago and Northern Pacific Air Line, running to Duluth, 
owned by large capitalists, and already graded and to be in operation 
during the winter of 1873-4, through a considerable part of Wis- 
consin. 

The Chicago and Illinois River road, running hence to Streator, 
and the immense corn granaries beyond, and tapping the Illinois coal 
fields near Wilmington ; now being graded through Will county. 

The Chicago and Pacific, from Elgin to the Mississippi. 

A score of minor roads, branching out from the various main lines, 
and being built either by the large companies or by local organiza- 
tions, and likely to be absorbed into the large systems by the usual 
processes. Nearly all the principal railroad companies also have 
important extensions in progress, or only waiting for the large fall 
and winter receipts, or a more favorable state of the bond market to 
place them in funds for the purpose. 

Highways to the Sea. — Thus far in our calculation we have made no 
mention of the facilities which Chicago has in comparison with other 
cities for reaching the seaboard with her produce. We speak of com- 
parative facilities, because no western city has adequate facilities in 
that respect, the development of the West having outrun the enter- 
prise of the East in this respect. Chicago, however, already enjoys 
advantages over all other western points corresponding in pro- 
portion with her advantages in western feeders, and this advantage 
will be greatly enhanced within the next twelve months. Against 
the single circuitous and fortuitous route upon which other cities have 
to depend, Chicago has the following routes at her command, with a 
splendid water way to Europe, either via New York or via Montreal, 
to regulate the tolls of the rail during the season of navigation : 



no 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



WESTERN DIVISION. 


MIDDLE DIVISION. 


EASTERN DIVISION. 


To Detroit. 
Michigan Central. 
(Double track.) 

To Detroit and Toledo. 
Michigan Southern. 
(Double track.) 


Grand Trunk. 
Great Western. 

(Double Track.) 

Lake Shore. 

(Double track.) 


Grand Trunk and Vermont 
Central. 

New York Central. 
Boston roads from Albany, 


To Port Huron. 




Erie. 


Chicago & Can. Southern. 
(Nearly completed, first 
claas.) 


Canada Southern, 

(Double track.) 


New York Midland. 


To Pittsburgh. 
Chicago, Pittsburgh & Ft. 

Wayne. 
Chicago, Cin., & Ind. Cen. 


Chicago, Pittsburgh & Fort 
Wayne. 


Pennsylvania. 


To Pittsburgh. 
Bait, Pittsb'h & Chicago. 
(Nearly completed, first 

class.) 


Baltimore & Ohio. 


Baltimore & Ohio. 



And in addition to this list, there are several projects for first-class 
air line thoroughfares to New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, to be 
chartered by Congress as a national necessity; also for trunk rail- 
roads, by which Norfolk and other seaport cities south of Baltimore 
will obtain a foothold in this wrestling arena of Eastern commerce 
and capital. It is also hoped that the water-way referred to on a 
preceding page will be supplanted, ere long, by the proposed canal 
enlargements, and the addition of the Caughnawaga ship canal. 

Chicago takes no special hand in manipulating, nor voice in agi- 
tating, these various improvements, her experience having taught 
her that her natural commercial advantages are sufficiently real, and 
have been sufficiently strengthened by the artificial aids already oper- 
ating, to command, in due time, a vigorous competition for her east- 
ward carrying trade. 



BURDEN OF THE IRON HORSE. 



What Her Various Railways Bring to Chicago — Fourteen Hours Transport the 
Southern Esculent from the Gardens of " Egypt " to the Kitchen of the Chi- 
cago Consumer — Share of the Various Roads in Transporting the Staples of 
the West — Cheering Growth of the Pacific Coast and Asiatic Trade — Excep- 
tion Against Tea, and the Explanation thereof — Chicago and the Cotton 
Trade — She Smelts for Colorado and Four Iron Regions, Tans for Texas and 
the Northwest, Packs for all Christendom, and will Spin, Weave and Export for 
the Lower Mississippi Valley. 

The End Not Yet. — Under facts and conditions recited in the pre- 
ceding chapter, it is far more difficult to imagine any but frivolous 
reasons why the prodigious development of the city of Chicago 
should suffer any arrest, than it is to realize that, until the railway 
system reaches its culmination, it must more and more aggrandize 
its now obvious focal point. But that culmination is a matter which, 
with extraordinary unanimity, is allowed to be far hence. 

A Lesson From Massachusetts. — In Massachusetts the railroad 
plexus extends a linear mile steam stock road for every five square 
miles; and in the eastern part there is nearly a mile and a half for 
every five square miles of territory. But there the topographical 
difficulties are great. In the Mississippi valley, and especially 
through prairies, railroads are built with extreme facility and cheap- 
ness. The Massachusetts ratio would give to Illinois alone 11,000 
miles of railroad, and until every place practicable at all has reached 
at least the Massachusetts ratio, it will be premature to announce the 
culmination of the American railway system. In that day, taking 
only organized territory of the present, estimated by the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office at 3,000,000 square miles, the 66,491 
American railroad mileage will have swelled to 600,000 miles. And 
of this, there is no doubt in the minds of men accustomed to be con- 
sulted by statesmen and publicists on such subjects. 

Official Testimony. — We cannot better exemplify the rationa/e of 



112 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



this increase than by quoting from the official statement of the Iowa 
State Treasurer of the progress of railroads in that state for a period 
of nine years, during which railroad earnings (indicating the in- 
crease of produce, etc., carried) grew in the ratio of 10 to 1.42. 



Year. 


T3 

</) a! 
v 
r3 u 

§ 'c3 


Miles 

opened 

each year. 


a 
.2 




Miles of 
R. R. per 

head of 
population 


Gross 

Earnings. 


Earnings 

per 

Mile. 


Earnings 
per head of 
population 


1862 


626 




778,000 


1,243 


$ 1,109,346 


$1,772 


$1,42 


1863 


653 


27 


830,000 


1,271 


1,570,546 


2,405 


1,89 


I864 


727 


74 


882,000 


1,212 


2,553,699 


3,512 


2,89 


1865 


847 


120 


934,000 


1,103 


3371,783 


4,572 


4,14 


1866 


1,080 


213 


986,000 


930 


4,118,006 


3,884 


4,12 


1867 


1,238 


168 


1,038,000 


838 


5,807,501 


4,778 


5,65 


1868 


1,448 


220 


1,040,000 


734 


8,024,931 


5,541 


7,36 


1869 


2,08l 


533 


1,142.000 


55o 


10,409,950 


5,002 


9.12 


1870 


2,683 


602 


1,194,000 


445 


11,932,352 


4,447 


I0,00 



The Wonders of Railroad Transportation. — We indicated by the 
most hasty outline, in the preceding chapter, the character and quan- 
tity of the several tributes brought to Chicago by the several railroad 
systems, closing with that of the Illinois Central, by which the north 
and the south were "bound together with bands of iron." Perhaps 
we might more properly say, it brings them so close that their res- 
pective industries cohere without the aid of any cincture. 

It is a singular illustration of the wonders of railroad transporta- 
tion, that the market gardens of a great city are three hundred miles 
distant. The stranger is struck with the almost total absence in the 
vicinity of Chicago of gardens for the raising of kitchen esculents for 
sale, while from every block, out of business centers, the green grocer 
tempts him with fresh and abundant vegetables during all seasons, 
and at surprisingly low prices, considering how far they have come. 
It early became an object on the Illinois Central road to deliver such 
supplies with the utmost celerity, which is effected at particular sea- 
sons, such as those of strawberries, peaches, etc., by special trains, 
at great speed. It is claimed that the lakeside citizen may have 
vegetables in his pot within fourteen hours after they were growing 
in "Egypt." It has been estimated that during this season (1873) 
19,000 bushels of berries were carried by this railroad, of which 
Chicago consumed about 16,000 bushels. • Other fruits, particularly 
peaches, being much of a failure this season, we substitute, as suffi- 
ciently illustrative, the figures of 1867, which happen to be at hand. 
Berries brought by the Illinois Central railroad, 14,000 bushels, of 



CHICAGO GAINING SOUTHWESTERN TRADE. 113 

which 1,500 passed beyond Chicago, the city receiving 12,500 bush- 
els. Peaches, 389,000 baskets, Chicago receiving 289,191 baskets, 
other points receiving about 100,000 baskets. All fruits and berries 
together, nearly 9,000,000 pounds by weight — in 1867. 

The Texas Trade Tending Chicagoward. — The fact is familiar that 
in parts of Texas, in the midst of vast spaces eminently fit for rais- 
ing cattle, they are slaughtered for their hides alone, sold for less 
than ten dollars each, while in Chicago the animal so destroyed 
would bring five times as much, or more. It must be expected that 
at an early day arrangements, already operating well, will be per- 
fected, and local railroads in Texas extended, with the effect of 
bringing to the Chicago cattle market vast additional shipments of 
live-stock from the Texas plains, and from those of the Indian Terri- 
tory. The same is virtually true of hogs over a vaster southwestern 
region, from whence little comes now, which may be roughly 
bounded by a line south-west from Kansas City to El Paso west- 
wardly, and by the Mississippi river eastwardly, including Arkansas 
and Southern Missouri. 

As a provision depot, therefore, it would be altogether rash to 
assign, even by analogy to the utmost figures known to such experi- 
ence in the world, a limit to Chicago. 

Interesting Particulars of the Carrying Trade. — With regard to 
the great staples of grain and flour brought to Chicago by the differ- 
ent tributary lines of railroad, it may be instructive for the reader to 
study the tables elsewhere inserted, from which it will be seen that 
the greatest quantity of corn brought to Chicago, by any one railroad, 
in the year 1872, came by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy road, 
which brought nearly 12,000,000 bushels, or about one-fourth of 
the whole amount received in that year. Of wheat, the greatest 
quantity came by the Chicago and Northwestern road, which brought 
over 6,600,000 bushels, or more than one-half the entire amount re- 
ceived. Of flour, the greatest quantity came also by the Northwest- 
ern road — the amount being over 1,000,000 barrels, out of the 
1,500,000 barrels received. Of oats, the greatest quantity came also 
by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy road — the number of bush- 
els being almost 4,000,000, out of the 15,000,000 received from all 
sources. The same road also brought the most rye — nearly 340,000 
bushels — about one-third the entire amount received ; although the 
Chicago and Northwestern road came within about 2,000 of an equal 
quantity. 
8 



114 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

With regard to the great staples of hog and beef product, and live 
stock, the share carried by each of the principal lines eastward, will 
be seen elsewhere in detail. The Chicago and Alton road, though not 
within that class, carries a considerable quantity of this freight from 
Chicago ; for example : in 1872, this road carried, in round numbers, 
5,000,000 pounds of cured meats ; 250,000 pounds of lard ; 1,000 
hogs; 14,000 cattle; and 1,400 sheep. 

The eastward lines carried as follows : Michigan Central, 27,000- 
ood pounds of meats ; over 11,000,000 pounds of lard ; 710,000 hogs; 
70,000 cattle ; and 20,000 sheep. Lake Shore and Michigan South- 
ern, 68,000,000 pounds of meats ; 40,000,000 pounds of lard ; 800,000 
hogs; 200,000 cattle; and 18,000 sheep. Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne 
and Chicago, 108,000,000 pounds of meats ; 25,000,000 pounds of 
lard ; 450,000 hogs ; 200,000 cattle ; and 100,000 sheep. Pittsburgh, 
Cincinnati and St. Louis line, 25,000,000 pounds of meats; 4,000,000 
pounds of lard ; less than 4,000 hogs ; cattle and sheep inconsiderable. 
Danville and Vincennes line, 1,000,000 pounds of meats; lard, hogs, 
cattle and sheep, inconsiderable. 

The iron, lumber and coal interests constitute a large and con- 
stantly increasing element in the transportation business of Chicago. 
The iron, in the main, is brought from the Lake Superior country 
by the Chicago and Northwestern road and by lake craft. Anthra- 
cite coal comes to Chicago, mainly by lake, while the bituminous 
kinds are brought mainly by the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes 
road, and by the Chicago and Alton, and the Pittsburgh and St. 
Louis lines. Stone, sand, earth, etc., are brought to Chicago in large 
quantities, by the Illinois and Michigan canal, only; which also 
contributes largely to grain receipts, those of 1872 from this source 
being: corn, 7,157,274 bushels; flour, 17,506 barrels; oats, nearly 
1,000,000 bushels, besides small quantities of wheat, rye, barley, etc. 
The great feature of canal carriage, however, is lumber, of which the 
movement is westward. With the exception of two hundred and odd 
thousand feet received at Chicago, in 1872, the great remainder car- 
ried on the canal was all hence from Chicago, viz. : 37,539,003 feet 
of lumber; 9,084,125 shingles; 4 391,036 lath ; 1,007,550 pounds of 
staves and headings, besides a quantity of posts, rails, etc. 

The Great Trans-Continental Trade of America is an old idea and 
a new and splendid fact. But it is yet in its infancy. The opening 
of the Suez canal checked at once the magnificent hope of replant- 
ing, in great procession across our remote interior, the perished 



TRADE WITH THE PACIFIC COAST, ETC. 1 15 

grandeur of cities that once joined their jeweled hands in a line 
across the Orient from Cashmere to Italy. But even this is a ques- 
tion of time, by many believed to be no very long time. Independ- 
ently, however, of the idea of reversing the track of trade around the 
globe, the opening of the Pacific system of rail communication, con- 
fining its operation rigidly to the known incidental effect of augment- 
ing local production and consequent demand for goods, cannot fail 
in less than a generation to develop a volume of trade between the 
Atlantic and Pacific, of which the proportion through has been rela- 
tively small compared with that which will center its inter-oceanic 
currents at places in the interior on the great routes. Of these foci, 
it will not be questioned that Chicago will be the chief. Here, at least, 
the great Rocky Mountain basin will have its commercial metropolis ; 
or if Chicago have a rival, it must be in some future emporium to rise 
far west of the Mississippi; whose development would retard Chi- 
cago, however, no more than that of Chicago has retarded New 
York, a city that has experienced no retardation. 

The Trade with the Pacific Coast for 1873. — It has already accepted 
Chicago as its smelting furnace, and four large silver mills are already 
in operation here. Already the through trade has reached a point 
which is small only by comparison with the greatness of the route. 
The year will probably make the shipments from San Francisco, San 
Jose, Stockton, Sacramento, and Marysville, California, alone, about 
fifty-three million pounds of the following articles, viz., borax, but- 
ter, coffee, Tahiti cotton, fish, flour, glue, hides, hops, leather, Chili 
walnuts, quicksilver, foreign silk, sugar and syrup, tea, wine, foreign 
wool, domestic wool, wheat, and merchandise. The estimate is 
based on the figures of those articles for the first half of this year 
(1873) which, from the shipping points named, make a total of 
26,554, 367 pounds, or about 13,000 short tons, worth over $5,000,000. 
It cannot but be instructive to consider what articles are thus brought 
east, and the proportions of some of them. 

The Tea Trade. — The tea trade is known to have rested for two 
years past, and to be subject for some time yet to come to a glut in 
all the markets of Europe, of which the history and causes are well 
understood by the trade, but are too exceptional and curious to find 
a place here. The possibility of Chicago being made in time the 
great tea distributor of the world, is by no means a ridiculous vag- 
ary. About 12,000,000 pounds came to Chicago in 1872, of which 
but a relatively small proportion was consumed there. 



u6 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Other Foreign Merchandise, via San Francisco. — Frcm San Fran- 
cisco alone came (a part of the above aggregate for the first half of 
1873) nearly 3,000,000 pounds of tea, nearly 2,000,000 pounds of 
coffee, over 800,000 pounds of foreign wool, and the comparatively 
large amount of 309,724 pounds of foreign silk, beside small quanti- 
ties of cotton from the Pacific islands, nuts from South America, etc. 
— all foreign articles. Of domestic products thus shipped east, 
after wool, wine was the heaviest, which, in pounds, was, from all 
points, 1,380,900. Next comes Salmon (fish), 1,113,958 pounds. 
But domestic wool reached the high figure of 12,337,263 pounds — a 
rate exceeding 25,000,000 pounds a year, besides imported wool. 
Wheat is among the articles, and flour, in much greater quantity. 
Of other merchandise there was about a million pounds. Quicksil- 
ver, a quarter of a million pounds, of great value, is included ; but, 
of course, gold, silver, and unreduced ores, of which latter the pros- 
pect is of a great and indefinite increase regularly consigned to Chi- 
cago, where the process of their reduction is to be systematically 
entered upon on a large scale, are excluded from these figures. 

Eighty per cent, of these shipments consisted of tea, coffee, wool, 
leather, wine, and flour. The increase may appear in the following 
most gratifying figures, for three years, viz. : 



pounds or 


1871. 


1872. 


1873. 


Wool .. 


11,194,077 

877,361 

1,185,566 

2,637,582 
168,040 


10,398,310 

678,339 

1,384,785 

4,937,500 

2,301,730 

818,741 


13,700,057 


Leather 


776,321 


Wine 


1,682,624 


Flour 


1,543,250 


Tea. 


2,927,434 


Coffee 


1,835,588 






Totals 


16,062,624 


22,519,405 


22,265,274 



This exhibit, notwithstanding the great irregularity of yearly quan- 
tities, will not be undervalued by the reflective reader. Upon the 
whole, the figures up to date warrant the estimate of ten million dol- 
lars shipment by rail from California for the present year, 1873. The 
balance of trade, excluding bullion, is, of course, largely against 
'California. Shipments thence from the East, therefore, are vastly 
greater. 

King Cotton Looks This Way. — That the cotton interest of the 
South is to be again the greatest on the western continent of the 
agricultural class, is assured by every analysis of the subject which 



CHICAGO AND THE COTTON TRADE. 117 

has appeared in the foreign periodicals devoted to economics. It 
has been conceded that the price is never to be as low as it was be- 
fore the war, when its enormous profits invested it with the pre- 
eminence of a "King." On the other hand, Southern labor, which 
has become relatively expensive, considered as wages, has undergone 
no radical change of its economic relations to this question ; the 
effect of freeing the negroes being merely to vest in themselves, dis- 
tributively, the profits once monopolized by the masters. If the sup- 
port of emancipated labor is more expensive, so it is of a vastly 
more efficient kind, making a (given amount of it, normally, and 
perhaps already, in fact, equal to a larger acreage, and a corresponding 
augment of production. The interesting problem is, where is this 
cotton to go ? The foreign demand will always keep up and regu- 
late the price, while the domestic consumption is to continue indefi- 
nitely. Many forget that manufacturing is no longer localized in 
the extreme Northeast, and that with climatic and other advantages 
of the South, New England may, some day, rise up from her seats 
at Fall River and the Merrimac, and sit down again on the Rappa- 
hannock, the Savannah, and the Tombigbee, with her factories. 
Nevertheless, it must be long before the best class of manufacturing 
for cotton fabrics can be done elsewhere on the continent as cheaply 
as in the Northeast, including New York. 

At the present day, raw cotton for American demand, as well as 
foreign, goes from all points to New York, whence it is distributed. 
The ocean passage to that point is long, hazardous and expensive. 
It is to be expected that overland carriage will early be substi- 
tuted. Already, a good proportion seeks Norfolk by rail from the 
South, where the roads cannot possibly carry cheaply with their as 
yet imperfect appointments, from whence it is reshipped by sail or 
steam to New York. With all the disadvantages of inferior and 
slow land carriage, this tendency of cotton is developing with re- 
markable rapidity, and on the actual figures of the traffic, Southern 
carriers unanswerably ask why any more cotton should go to sea 
south of Norfolk ? 

These reflections and facts prepare us for the question whether 
river carriage and canal transportation of ship capacity to Chicago 
could not secure for the latter the now exclusive prerogative of New 
York as the Great Cotton Exchange ? If St. Lawrence navigation 
should reach the point of perfection which the enlightened plans of 
the Dominion Government contemplate, the cotton planter might 



Il8 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

even see his crops off for Europe at a Chicago wharf as well as at 
New York, after a great saving even of air line distance, and an 
immense saving of actual route, by sea, or on the other hand, of rail 
freight, even with roads from the South of the very best. 

Meantime, for boots and shoes, clothing, castings, agricultural 
implements, engines and all heavy articles, railroad rolling stock, 
furniture, etc., etc., no reason is perceived why manufacturing in 
Chicago should not find, by way of all water into the South, and 
across in through lines of railroad for the most part open already, 
an inexhaustible market in the cotton regions. 

The Chicago and Mobile Railroad. — Philadelphia, and Cincin- 
nati, Indianapolis, and other Ohio and Indiana cities, would be more 
successful competitors than farther eastern places, while only St. 
Louis may claim advantages in these respects over Chicago, none 
of which would withstand the influence of a realization of the idea 
sustained twenty-five years ago by the ablest statesmen of the coun- 
try, and actually endorsed by the Congress of the United States in 
1850 by the act granting lands to a line of railroad from Mobile to 
Chicago and Dubuque, under the names of Mobile & Ohio, and 
Illinois Central — the great idea of marketing the agricultural pro- 
duce of the South where the two great hydrographic systems of the 
continent meet ; where the then unblemished committees of Senate 
and House joined with the President in 1814 to recognize, in uniting 
the waters, a means of greatening the common nation ; where the 
far-seeing French pioneers two centuries ago saw a seat for a western 
empire, and where even the pre-historic aborigines hallowed the 
portage as a Sinai, building altars where the sources of the great 
streams approach, to the god of water, wind and lightning. 



COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 



With Special Reference to the General Merchandise Jobbing Trade — The Preem- 
inence of Chicago as a Produce Ma^t is Well Understood, Already — Growth of 
the Wholesale Trade — How the War Affected it — An Important New Depart- 
ure, and a Wholesome One — Present Status of the Trade — Interesting Figures 
— Marvellous Increase in Traffic since 1868 — Direct Importation — Statistics 
from the Custom House. 



WE have seen in the preceding chapters from what a wretched 
beginning, and how recently the commerce of Chicago has 
risen. It has come to be pretty well understood abroad, that Chicago 
stands at the head of all cities on this planet in the amount of grain, 
pork, lumber, live stock, and a few minor commodities, which she 
markets. Her preeminence in these branches of traffic has been ad- 
mitted, whether cheerfully or otherwise ; and on the strength of it 
she has achieved a broad fame as a great commercial city: great, 
because the depot of a vast and productive domain. 

Kindly Warnings. — At the same time there has been a general 
disposition to warn Chicago that she cannot always maintain this 
ascendancy. The very small increase, and occasionally an actual 
decrease in the year's receipts of a single article of produce — wheat 
and beef cattle being the only such commodities that we think of — 
have been pointed to as evidences that new towns farther west, or 
rival markets offering new facilities of transportation were picking 
off Chicago's trade, in accordance with an inexorable law of com- 
merce; and that law has usually been furnished to order, varying 
according to the particular notions of the political economist 
propounding it. One of these laws is that purely commercial cities 
(whatever those may be) have never grown beyond a certain maxi- 
mum figure. Other " laws " cited have reference to the maximum 
distance which raw produce, live stock, etc, can be profitably car- 
ried by rail. 

Some Figures in Produce. — While these interesting theories have 



120 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

been undergoing evolution, however, it has been discovered that the 
aggregate produce trade of Chicago has been growing steadily from 
year to year. The more her succedanea to the westward develop and 
build elevators, and the more her " rivals " advertise their cheap 
water routes, the more obstinately Chicago forges ahead as a produce 
mart. Thus, her total receipts of grain increased from 22,000,000 in 
1857 to 36,000,000 in i860, 54,000,000 in 1865, 60,000,000 in 1870, 
70,500,000 in 187 1, and 79,000,000 in 1872. And while beef pack- 
ing has fallen off, probably permanently, in behalf of Kansas City, 
the pork packing has increased in six years from 507,355 head to 
1,229,208, the gain, from 1870-1 to 1871-2, having been over 300,000 
head; and the pack of the season of 1872-3 (1,489,000 head) 
exceeded that of any other three cities on the Continent. At the 
same time the receipts of cattle, for consumption and for shipment 
on the hoof, have largely increased, and the receipts of all classes of 
live-stock in 187 1-2 had increased 972,866 head over the previous 
twelve months. 

Developed Symmetrically. — Thus has it been with the produce 
trade, which might, nevertheless, unsustained by collateral depart- 
ments of commerce, fall off in a subsequent year (though how, with 
railroads as they are, would be difficult to say). Chicago has, how- 
ever, happily developed other commercial functions, such as befit an 
adult city, and enable her to cope powerfully with all competitors. 
We allude to the merchandising trade, in which she now has only 
three rivals in America. 

Faults in Statistics. — Chicago is woefully destitute of statisticians, 
and consequently of statistics — the default in the latter respect hav- 
ing been increased a hundred fold by the utter destruction, in the 
great fire, of every public collection, and almost every valuable 
private collection of historical and statistical statements. There is no 
municipal bureau of statistics, and no merchants' association, manu- 
facturers' association, or other organization by which might be col- 
lected the facts which, in those lines of business, correspond to the 
daily and yearly reports of the Board of Trade ; neither is there, 
since 1868, any governmental inquisition into the amount of busi- 
ness, for the tax-gatherer's purpose. As to the decennial census, 
nobody has a greater contempt for it than the intelligent gentleman 
who superintended its taking — hampered as he was by lack of funds 
and the defective system of research marked out for him by Con- 
gress. 



HOW CHICAGO GAINED HER JOBBING TRADE. 12 1 

What the State and the organizations of trade have failed to fur- 
nish, the enterprise of local journalism has to some extent accom- 
plished, and for the moderately thorough but keenly apprehensive 
research characteristic of Chicago newspaper statistics, Mr. Elias 
Colbert of " The Tribune," has acquired far more recognition than 
any other person ; insomuch that his figures are but seldom appealed 
from. His figures, more than any other (except those developed by 
our own research, and those with regard to Chicago's great raw sta- 
ples, on which we have exact reports from the Board of Trade), are 
used in this volume. Some citations will show in what manner the 
trade of Chicago has developed itself. 

Rapid Growth. — For 1852, the total of trade both ways in Chi- 
cago, i. <?., produce trade and merchandising, was estimated at $20,- 
000,000. In i860, it had swelled to $97,067,617. In 1868, thanks 
to the stimulus of the war, and the expansion of values, the aggregate 
reached $397,552,000, and in the following year rose consider- 
ably above $400,000,000, a sum which evidently did not include the 
traffic in articles manufactured in Chicago, nor yet the retail sales 
made in the city. For 1870, the estimated aggregate was $402,000,- 
000, and for the year ending Oct. 1st, 1872, it was calculated that the 
total of the wholesale trade of the city was not less than $450,000,- 
000. 

Chicago Enterprise and What it Accomplished. — It has been hinted 
in an earlier chapter, that the astonishing prosperity of Chicago during 
the first two decades of her career, was not the consequence of any 
remarkable foresight, or any remarkable nerve on the part of the 
business men of the place ; and so far as the growth of the produce 
trade, during the period from i860 to 1868 is concerned, it was 
undoubtedly the result of causes largely independent of the energy 
and courage of Chicago merchants ; especially the extension of a 
railroad system, owned mainly by foreign capitalists, and the great 
war demand for nearly all the products of the Northwest. 

There was, however, a notable improvement in the merchandise 
traffic of Chicago, during the progress of the war, which may be 
directly attributed to the wise and courageous course pursued by 
Chicago merchants. Previous to 1862 or '3, no Chicago mercantile 
firm had attained to such a position as is now held by our fifth 
rate jobbing houses ; and they all had a habit of selling their 
goods in a rather reckless way ; giving credits, long or short, to 
almost any who asked. 



122 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

The rapid enhancement of prices which followed the opening of 
the war, and the issue of greenbacks in 1862, furnished the cue to a 
new and better system. 

First, it multiplied greatly the profits of the Chicago merchants, as 
it did those of all others. Second, it enabled them to undersell the 
New York jobbers, the more especially as freights arose along with 
everything else. Trade poured in upon the Chicago jobbers 
therefore in unprecedented volume, and they had not only the 
courage to buy heavily, and thus sow their means for a two-fold har- 
vest ; but also the wit to perceive that the " flush " times of that 
period afforded the golden opportunity, which some of them had 
long desired, to take a new departure, and buy and sell chiefly for 
cash thereafter. This policy was then inaugurated, and it has been 
the corner-stone to a splendid prosperity on the part of the mer- 
chants adopting it. 

Nay, more ; we claim that the enterprise and business wisdom 
shown in that crisis, have been more instrumental than any other 
cause in placing Chicago trade on such a basis that it stood with 
equal firmness the vigorous assaults of competition from both Eastern 
and Western cities; the often unjust, at least unfavorable discrim- 
ination of railway rates; and finally, the severest test by sudden 
and general disaster to which a city's trade was ever subjected. 

The war period was the opportunity of the Chicago merchants, and 
they improved it to the uttermost. They might have been content 
with reaping the rich harvests which the upward shooting prices of 
the period afforded them, building fine houses with the proceeds, 
and going on in the old way, as the merchants of St. Louis did. 
But they were not thus content. They had studied their business 
to better purpose ; and they advanced, under good leadership, to a 
higher vantage ground, whence they have ever since commanded the 
situation. Though there is credit due to many, we shall be excused 
for singling out one firm as facile princefts, both in this movement and 
in the enjoyment of its consequence ; the house then known as Far- 
well, Field & Co., which contained the (now) senior partners of the 
two greatest dry goods houses outside of New York, having taken 
the lead in the heavy-stock-and-cash-system movement. The house of 
J. V. Farwell & Co., whose head was the head of the firm above 
named, has no peer outside of Chicago and New York, and but four 
or five in New York. The house of Field, Leiter & Co., whose 
head, Mr. Marshall Field, was also " at the front," commercially speak- 



THE MAXIMUM INCREASES THIRTY-FOLD. 1 23 

ing, ranks still higher, its sales for the past year having been 
about $ 20,000,000, and its profits not less than $1,000,000. The last 
named firm is unlike almost every other jobbing concern in the coun- 
try in employing absolutely no commercial travelers, — a rule which 
several other large Chicago wholesaling firms have endeavored to 
put in force, and some of them with success until the fire obliged 
them to return to the " drumming " system to combat the stories cir- 
culated by rivals that they had " gone up " in the fire. 

Unexampled Growth of Mercantile Business. — Up to the beginning 
of the war, there was not a mercantile house in Chicago which had 
done more than $600,000 trade per year. These figures were 
reached in 1856 by Cooley, Farwell & Co., successors of Cooley, 
Wadsworth & Co., the pioneer large jobbing house of the city. As 
early as 1866, however, we find by reference to revenue returns pub- 
lished at the time, there were already twenty-two houses, exclusive of 
produce dealers and packers, whose sales exceeded a million each. 
In 1867, the aggregates of the large houses were but very little in- 
creased, the list of houses whose sales exceeded a million having 
swelled only to twenty-eight. There were many new houses estab- 
lished, however. We find that the total grocery jobbing trade of 
1867 was about $32,000,000, and the total dry goods jobbing trade 
$35,000,000 ; total hardware trade, $7,200,000, etc. The next few 
years saw trade conducted in the face of such a terrible shrinkage of 
prices that not only was the volume of goods handled less than it 
would have been on a rising or stationary market, but the volume of 
each subsequent year was belittled by the story which the aggregate 
in dollars told. In spite of which facts, however, and in spite of 
" destruction " by fire, Chicago was able to show for the year ending 
Oct. 1, 1872, a gain of fifty per cent, in the money value of goods 
exchanged at wholesale in her marts over the calendar year 1867. 
That is to say, the sales of the last named year, including produce, 
footed up at over $450,000,000, whereas the sales of the former year 
were returned at a trifle over $300,000,000. 

Still Growing Apace. — For the purpose of further exemplifying the 
steady and continued growth of the Chicago jobbing trade, we give 
below a table of the total amount of sales in the principal lines of 
merchandise for the calendar year 1870, and the year ending Octo- 
ber 1, 1872, which can be compared with the figures given above, 
for 1867. These totals were as follows: 



124 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

1870. 1872. 

Groceries 53,000,000 59,000,000 

Dry Goods 35,000,000 40,000,000 

Hardware 8,200,000 9,500,000 

Crockery... 2,800,000 3.100,000 

Boots and Shoes 7,500,000 10,500,000 

Clothing, etc 6,000,000 5,000,000 

Drugs and Chemicals 4,000,000 5,000,000 

The figures under the head "hardware" included metals in 1870, 
but did not in 1871. The item "clothing" is made, for what reason 
we know not, to include hats and caps, which alone amounts to 
about $4,000,000 per year, while the clothing trade of two houses 
alone exceeds that sum. 

Chicago Jobbing Trade for 1873. — The year ending October 1, 
1873, has been an exceptionally dull one in all American cities. The 
trade of last fall was seriously interfered with by the horse disease, 
at the latter end of October, delaying the shipment of goods to the 
country, and causing dull times there throughout the winter. There 
was also a very general disposition among the farmers to economize, 
insomuch that the consumption of merchandise by the country was 
much less than might have been expected. Nevertheless, all lines of 
trade have held their own in Chicago, and some of them, as the dry 
goods, boots and shoes, and clothing trades, have gained decidedly* 
From researches made only a few days before the going to press of 
this volume, we place the total of the dry goods trade of Chicago 
for the year referred to at $48,000,000 ; the grocery trade at $60,- 
000,000; boots and shoes at $12,000,000; clothing at $6,000,000 ; 
hats, caps, and furs, at $4,000,000 ; millinery at $4,000,000 ; and the 
aggregate at not far from $160,000,000. It should be understood 
that a greater proportion of the clothing and of the boots and shoes 
sold at wholesale in Chicago are manufactured here also, and that 
the development of these trades has been exceptionally rapid within 
the past three years. 

Broduce Trade for the Current Year. — The produce trade of Chi- 
cago also keeps growing apace. The receipts of the following com- 
modities for the nine months ending September 27, 1873, and the 
nine months ending September 28, 1872, compare thus : 

1872. 1873. 

Flour, bbls 987,222 1,498,628 

Wheat, bushels 7,050,439 14,504,284 

Corn, bushels 38,073,808 31,802,693 

Oats, bushels 9,831,979 12,788,708 

Rye, bushels 621,607 845,046 

Barley, bushels... 2,024,500 2.162,973 

Seeds, lbs 29,907,878 35,672,415 

Broom Corn, lbs 4,531,953 ...... 5,750,332 

Reducing flour to wheat gives us total receipts of over 23,000,000 



GAIN IN BUSINESS BETWEEN 1872 AND 1873. 



125 



bushels for the first nine months of 1873, which is 3,000,000 bushels 
more than were received during the whole of 1872. But the crop of 
1873 is yet to come in — the great bulk of it. How it is to come in, 
as compared with last year, is shown by the following table of the 
receipts of wheat for four weeks of September in each year : 

1873. 1872. 

Week ending Sept. 6 -... 1,600,410 335,690 

" 13 . 1,512,080 347,708 

" 20 1,348,765 524,967 

" 27 1,151,010 607,205 



Total four corresponding weeks... 5,612,265 1,815,570 

r 

It was undoubtedly the knowledge of this state of our produce 
trade that alone averted such a commercial panic throughout the 
country during the latter part of September, 1873, as would only 
have been equalled in disastrous effects by the general wreck of 

1857. 

A Test of Aggregate Business Done. — The best test, perhaps, of 
the aggregate of a city's business during a given period is afforded 
by the total business of her banks. The forward progress of Chicago 
in this respect up to the latest moment is therefore afforded by the 
following comparative tables of the weekly bank clearings here dur- 
ing the summer season of 1872 and 1873 : 

Week Endikg 1873. 1872. 

May5 - $25,384,828 ....$20,720,413 

May 12 23,116,328 .... 20,701,101 

May 17 22,826,615 .... 19,535,691 

May 24 20,153,684 .... 16,868,573 

Junel 17,272,487 .... 15,196,828 

June 7 29,287,239 .... 27,033,579 

June 14 22,619,852 .... 20,904,315 

June 21 23,012,903 .... 21,788,139 

June 28 21,771,905 .... 18,478,156 

July5 24,089,276 .... 23,837,848 

Julyl2 24,007,628 .... 21,036,197 

July 19 21,441,590 .... 19,406,121 

July 27.... 21,158,176 .... 18,575,9d0 

Aug. 2 21,686,542 .... 20,607,676 

Aug. 9 23,394,658 .... 22,807,043 

Aug. 16 22,185,499 .... 21,378,081 

Aug. 23 24,173,630 .... 24,072,930 

Aug. 30. 26,698,578 .... 19,876,689 

Sept. 7 31,750,157 .... 24,592,407 

Sept. 13 29,482,664 .... 21,116,988 

Sept. 20 29,844,150 .... 21,259,564 

Totals $505,358,386 ....$439,794,329 

Increase in five months 65,564,057 



Chicago as an Importing City. — Although not less than $120,- 
000,000 worth of imported goods are annually sold in Chicago, a 
comparatively small proportion of them have been imported directly 
by the Chicago merchants. This is because, up to the time when 
the general government adopted the bonded railway system, the 



120 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

facilities for original entry at Chicago were but poor — the only 
direct line of water transportation from Europe through the St. Law- 
rence and the Great Lakes, having been established about the same 
time as the bonded railway plan, viz., in the spring of 187 1. A 
considerable proportion of the foreign goods imported by Chicago 
merchants still come through the New York Custom House ; but 
that Chicago has already commenced vigorously the practice of 
importing directly her foreign merchandise, is apparent from the fig- 
ures which follow, showing the direct importations for the year 1872, 
and for the eight months ending Sept. 1, 1873. They are obtained 
from the books of the Chicago Custom House, for access to which 
we are indebted to the Hon. Norman B. Judd, Collector, and Major 

Wallis, Auditor : 

Value at Place of 
1872 Exportation. 

Ale, Beer and Porter $ 39,785 

China and Earthenware - 26,010 

Glassware and plates - 127,143 

Dress Goods, cloths and silk fabrics 1,279,740 

Iron, pig 709,658 

Iron, R. R. bar 256,634 

Carpets 91,063 

Cigars 50,724 

Cutlery 27,854 

Fancy goods 53,927 

Salt 83,401 

Spirits in casks and bottled. 25,125 

Wine 19,776 

All other articles 1,704,469 

Total... - $4,495,909 

Add goods brought to Chicago in bond and duty paid here 1,485,825 

Aggregate $5,981,734 

Eight Months ov 1873. 

Ale, beer and porter 49,137 

Cotton fabrics.... 373,503 

Glassware and plates 114,941 

Dress goods, cloths, silks.. 463,496 

Carpets 38,257 

Fancy Goods 35,433 

Cutlery 13,389 

Salt , 85,828 

Spirits 26,882 

Wine 15,314 

Cigars. 64,190 

Pig iron 176,725 

All other articles 873,597 

Total $2,330,102 

Add goods brought to Chicago in bond and duties paid here ... 264,945 

Aggregate $2,595,047 

Figures much larger than these have been published by the local 
press ; but they are erroneous. 

Notes on the Above Table. — Inasmuch as all of our large importing 
houses keep a broker at New York, as well as a resident buyer, to 
take advantage of any accidental deflection in prices at that great 
mart, the principal part of all importing by Chicago merchants is 



NOTES. 127 

still done through the New York custom house. A remark is due 
in explanation of the falling off in the figures of 1873 from those of 
1872, in rather larger proportion than would follow from the short- 
ness of the period considered in the latter year. It should be borne 
in mind that several importaat staples, including tea and coffee, have 
been made free of duty since the beginning of 1872, and no note is 
therefore made by the revenue authorities of the importations of 
these articles by merchants at inland ports. The falling off in direct 
importations of dress goods, cloths, and silk, is due to the fact of a 
glut in the New York market, through which Chicago merchants 
were able to buy those goods cheaper than they could import them. 



MANUFACTURES OF CHICAGO. 



Eleven-Fold Increase in Thirteen Years — This Growth a Surprise to Chicago Her- 
self—Statistics New, Full, and Exceedingly Satisfactory to Chicago Pride — 
Why Chicago should be a Great Manufacturing City — Or, Rather, Why She 
Is Such Already — Over 70,000 Persons in Chicago Employed in Manufac- 
tures—A Moderate Sized Pittsburgh which has Grown in Two Years — A 
Small Birmingham or Manchester Forming on the Calumet. 

CHICAGO has often surprised the world, and now she has been 
quietly preparing a surprise for herself, in the enormous in- 
crease of her manufactures, and the development to which they 
have now attained. We have seen in the preceding chapter how 
the care of her progress had been guarded against retrogression by 
the energy and courage of her wholesale merchants during the war 
crisis. We shall now see what a tremendous forward impetus has 
been given to it by the apparently spontaneous development of man- 
ufactures— -a development which is represented by a net gain of 
1230 per cent, within the last thirteen years, and 137 per cent, within 
the last three years ! 

What Chicago Manufactures, — Chicago is, for many commodities, 
the best market in the United States; a fact leading — -in case of 
tolerably good facilities for manufactures — to the selection of Chi- 
cago for the production of those commodities. In this latter respect, 
circumstances favor Chicago in an equally remarkable degree. Her 
flat, low surface, and ample water courses; her unequalled abundance 
of railroad transportation ; her nearness and the multiplicity of her 
routes, both by land and water, to the iron regions of the lakes ; her 
proximity to the coal beds of Indiana and Illinois ; her boundless 
supply of pure water ; and, above all, the facilities for cheap living 
for operatives afforded by her neighborhood to the herds and gran- 
aries of the West, and her cheap homesteads. All these, and many 
other advantages which we have not space to enumerate, combine to 






MANUFACTURES THIRTEEN YEARS AGO. I 29 

make Chicago a favorite site for nearly every branch of manufac- 
ture. 

Thus situated, Chicago has seen her manufactures develop sponta- 
neously, without any of those loud, long, and frequent newspaper and 
platform appeals which the subject usually elicits and keeps eliciting 
in other cities. One day Chicago found that the farmers of the 
West had come to depend on her very largely for their reapers and 
mowers ; another day she woke up and discovered that those farmers 
had got into the same way of thinking (and doing) with respect to 
wagons, and that one of her citizens who had been giving his atten- 
tion to supplying a portion of this demand, realized from it a net 
income of over $300,000 a year. By and by she found that her 
manufacturers of flour, leather, clothing, furniture, watches, railroad 
iron and supplies, etc., had developed to huge proportions. And yet 
everybody called Chicago an exclusively commercial city. We shall 
show, however, not only that Chicago is growing much more rapidly 
in manufactures than either herself or the Northwest grows in pop- 
ulation or in commerce, but that she has already attained such a 
position in manufactures that these interests sustain a greater num- 
ber of her people than all other industries combined. 

Chicago Manufactures Three and Thirteen Years Ago. — In i860, 
according to the tables of the United States census, there were four 
hundred and sixty-nine manufacturing establishments in Chicago, 
employing five thousand five hundred and ninety-three hands, and 
turning out $13,555,671 worth of manufactured goods per. annum. 
In 1870, according to the same authority, the number of establish- 
ments had grown to one thousand one hundred and forty-nine, the 
number of hands employed to twenty thousand one hundred and 
fifty-six, and the aggregate annual product to $62,736,228 ; but these 
figures of a loose census were soon swelled, by local research, to 
$76,848,120, — a sum verified at the time by details which we need 
not reproduce. In the single item of the packing business, he has 
found a total product of $13,000,000 in lieu of the $6,500,000 
returned by the government canvasser; and the number of hands 
employed in this labor was twenty-five hundred. We shall refer to 
these particulars again directly. Before proceeding to an examina- 
tion of the present status of Chicago manufactures, we will place on 
record the Chicago Tribune's figures for the year 1870, which were 
based upon tire census returns of the previous June, revised accord - 

9 



i3° 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



ing to later date and more searching investigation, or more liberal 
estimates. 

CHICAGO MANUFACTURERS, 1870. 



Agricultural Implements $2,003,000 

Baking Powder 151,500 

Boots and Shoes.... 1,500,000 

Brooms, etc 457,856 

Bridges 1,000,000 

Breweries (202,035 bbls) 2,(520.350 

Bricks 750,000 

Boilers 259,500 

Books. Printing, etc 3,000.000 

Bakeries 1,300,000 

Cabinet Makers, etc 1,277,388 

Carriages and Wagons 1,368,982 

Carpets 1,300 

Car-wheels and Fixtures 529,573 

Cotton 82,000 

Clothing 1,000,000 

Cooperage 450,000 

Confectionery 900,000 

Highwines 6.0(58,221 

Flour and Grists 2,839,334 

Foundry and Machine Shops 3,657,933 

Fire, etc., Safes .... 110,000 

Gas 2,200.000 

Gloves, etc 6,000 

Honey' 7,800 

Hats, Caps, etc 400,000 

Instruments, Musical 350.050 

Lanterns.... 60.000 

Lead Pipe, etc 588,400 

Leather, Tanning, etc 2,229,515 

Lightning Rods ..t 8,000 

Lime.... 288,332 

Lumber 800,000 



Malt $347,320 

Nails. 245,740 

Oils 3,541,733 

Paints 508.000 

Planing Mills, etc.. 8,928,959 

Picture Frames, etc 60.000 

Patent Medicines 218.800 

Provisions (and curers) 13,5*10,000 

Paper Collars 160.000 

Refrigerators 107.500 

Rolling Mills and Forges 2,229,221 

Saws 22,850 

Scales 75,000 

Shot 210,000 

Saddles, etc., and Trunks 388,485 

Soap and Candles 334,400 

Ship Carpentry 216,000 

Steam Heaters 90,000 

Stone Cutting... 1,265,375 

Telegraph Supplies .. (5,000 

Terra Cotta.... .... 122,000 

Tin and Hardware 330.000 

Tobacco and Segars . 1,750,000 

Type Foundries 25.000 

Varnish 445,000 

Vinegar 209,100 

WmTFabrics 8,700 



Total $73,310,213 

Add for Miscellaneous 3,537,907 



Grand Total 



$76,848,120 



N. B. We have omitted, in copying this list, the item of $12,000,- 
000 for " Building," which, though a species of manufacturing, would 
be, like blacksmithing, tailoring, and cooking, rather too strictly local 
and domestic to come properly within a candid calculation of this 
matter. 

The Showing for 1872. — There are no returns of any sort from 
which the extent of the manufactures of Chicago for any period since 
1870 can be ascertained, except by personal investigation, and this 
very few persons have undertaken, in view of the great difficulties of 
the work and the comparatively slight rewards to be gained by it. 
Such an investigation has just been made, however, and that a very 
thorough one, involving months of labor, and the result is a more care- 
ful and accurate statement, so far as it goes, than anything heretofore 
published on this subject. The statistician is Mr. S. S. Schorl, who has 
collected these figures for use in a book, " The Industrial Interests of 
Chicago," advance sheets of which we have been permitted to see and to 
use such as may be available for the present work. Mr. Schoff includes 
in his tables only 660 manufacturing establishments, which leads us 
t > mention, that his schedule not only omits several branches of bu- 



MANUFACTURES. 



131 



siness, such as the packing of pork and beef, but fails to include a 
vast number of small establishments which are devoted to manufac- 
ture, more or less exclusively, and which are really worthy of being 
embraced in the aggregate. For the present, however, let us use im- 
plicitly the figures of this statistician. According to them there are 
in the city of Chicago (no note being made of the establishments 
located in neighboring and entirely tributary towns) 660 distinctive 
manufacturing concerns, of Which 532 have been established since 
i860, and 182 since 1870. The total amount of capital invested in 
these establishments is $49,304,500 ; the number of employees, 48,429 ; 
and the aggregate annual product, based on that of 1872, is $122,- 
481,000. The manufactures in iron form the largest branch or class 
of all these, showing a total of over $32,000,000; it being the fact, 
that Chicago and its vicinity produce more than one-third of all the 
steel rails rolled in the United States. It is also worthy of note, and 
rather astounding withal, that more than three-fourths of the iron 
manufactures have been gained since 1870, at which time the total 
annual product footed up at $6,862,467. And there are at least half 
a dozen extensive iron and steel works now going up in and about 
Chicago, whose aggregate product before the end of 1874 will not be 
less than $10,000,000. 

Without further preliminaries, the reader is given, in a nutshell, the 
meat of Mr. Schoff's report : 



132 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



MANUFACTURES IN IRON. 



Rolling Mills and Furnaces ..-3 

Foundries 18 

Boiler Works 1 

Car Wheel Works.. 2 

Stove Works... 2 

Bolt and Screw Works 3 

File Works 3 

Mill Machinery ... 2 

Safe Manufactory 3 

Cutlery Manufactory 2 

Galvanized Iron Works 18 

Steam Fitting Works.. 2 

Steam Heating Apparatus Works 2 

Machinery Manufactories 4 

Tinware Manufactories .. 5 

Miscellaneous Iron Works 14 

Iron Bedstead Manufactory 1 

Range and Furnace Works . .3 

Iron Works 8 

Steam Engine Works 5 

Printing Press Works 1 

Saw Works 3 

Wire Manufactures 11 

Scale Manufactures 1 

Thimble Skein Factory ..1 

Chair Manufactories ... 2 

Horse Nail Manufactory 1 



CAPITAL. 



$6,800,000 

1,792,000 

243,000 

200,000 

450,000 

32,000 

107,000 

115,000 

155,000 

103,000 

513,000 

28,000 

1,020,000 

125,000 

242,090 

381,000 

20,000 

70,000 

322,000 

140,000 

100,000 

105,000 

126,000 

50,000 

80,000 

48,000 

75,000 



SUMMARY. 

Manufactures in Iron of every kind 

Established Previous to 1860 

Tptal Capital Invested 

Total Number of Employees 

Total Wages paid per year.. . 

Total Value of Production for the year... 



EM- 
PLOYEES. 



3,600 

1,786 

373 

165 

230 

45 

46 
120 
135 
128 
658 

50 
700 
120 

73 
246 

20 

46 
373 
122 
100 

27 
135 

30 
150 

55 

75 



MONTHLY 


AN'L PRO- 


WAGES. 


DUCTION. 


$235,000 


16-000,000 


111,352 


3,710,500 


26,390 


995,000 


9,000 


700,000 


14,750 


400,000 


2,132 


117,000 


1,891 


54,000 


7,862 


350,000 


7,175 


325,000 


5,255 


180,000 


40,662 


1,653,000 


4,037 


215,000 


56,685 


2.200,000 


8,925 


350,000 


12,195 


640,000 


15.350 


836,000 


1,170 


25,000 


4,293 


117,500 


20,648 


.1,043,000 


8,606 


360,000 


2,125 


155,000 


1,318 


160,000 


9,210 


226,500 


1,500 


150,000 


5,000 


500,000 


4,700 


150,000 


5,100 


300,000 



127 

.-..26 

. $13,545,300 

9,623 

..$7,294,680 
-$32,103,000 






MANUFACTURES IN WOOD. 



Cigar Box Manf 'r 2 

Planing Mills— Sash, Doors 47 

Furniture Manf 'r 57 ! 

Picture Frame Manf'r 8J 

Refrigerator Manf'r .2 i 

Packing Box Manf'r 4 ; 

Bracket and Mould. Manf'r 3! 

Coffin Manf'r II 

Hoop Pole Manf'r lj 

Ladder and Wooden Ware li 

Rope Moulding and Looking Glass 2 

Shingle Manf'r 1 ; 

Cistern and Tank Manf'r 2 i 

Chair Manf'r 4 

Stair Builders 4 

Piano Manf'r 1 ' 

Organ Manf'r 1 1 

Pump Mauf'r 1 



CAPITAL. 

$ 15,000 

2.384,000 

1.920,500 

540,000 

150,000 

85,000 

12,500 

60,000 

40,000 

60,000 

204,000 

20,000 

6,500 

183,000 

82,900 

5,000 

10,000 

75,000 



EM- 


MONTHLY 


PLOYEES. 


WAGES. 


22 


$ 818 


3,918 


182,071 


2,479 


122,343 


653 


27,568 


111 


8,925 


145 


6,737 


18 


1,253 


50 


3,000 


20 


400 


60 


4,000 


182 


6,906 


20 


900 


14 




437 


16,785 


152 


9,857 


5 


531 


15 


1,060 


30 


1,500 



an'l pro- 
duction. 

$ 50,000 

8,678,000 

4,577,000 

1,180,000 

120,000 

320,000 

35,000 

100,000 

60,000 

175,000 

318,000 

50,000 

29,000 

235,000 

393,000 

10,000 

39,000 

100,000 



SUMMARY. 



Number of Establishments. 

Number prior to 1860 

Total capital invested 

Number of employees 

Wages paid per year 

Annual product. _ 



143 

26 

. ,$7,079,400 

9,970 

..$5,672,196 
.$18,607,000 



MANUFACTURES. 



^33 



MANUFACTURES IN IRON AND WOOD. 



CAPITAL. 



Wagon and Carriage Manfr 37 $1,242,500 

Spring Bed Manfr 5 50,000 

Hoisting Apparatus Works ..3 110,000 

Fire Apparatus Works ..2 400,000 

Agricultural Implements 7 1,500,000 

Car and Bridge Works ..4 1,950.000 



EM- 


MONTHLY 


AN'L pro- 


PLOYEES. 


WAGES. 


duction. 


1,173 


$ 07,120 


$2,534,500 


53 


2,000 


145,000 


260 


14,000 


570,000 


283 


14.300 


685,000 


1,272 


77,468 


6,285.000 


1,775 


104.800 


7,250,000 



^SUMMARY. 

Number of Establishments 58 

Number prior to 1860 .36 

Number of employees . . 4.816 

Capital invested ._'._ __ $6,112,500 

Wages paid per year $3,386,436 

Annual product $17,419,500 



METALS AND TERRA COTTA. 



Lead Works , 2 

Plaster and Terra Cotta Works 4 

Silver Smelting Works .2 

Type Foundries 4 

Brass Foundries 12 



CAPITAL. 



125,000 
100,000 
900,000 
350,000 
573,000 



EM- 
PLOYEES. 

28 
104 
350 
180 
554 



MONTHLY AN'L PRO- 
WAGES. DUCTION. 



$ 1.806 

4,100 

22,000 

12,600 

28,000 



350,000 
226,000 

5,000,000 
665,000 

1,232,000 



SUMMARY. 

Number of Establishments 24 

Number prior to 1860 - - - -5 

Number of Employees - 1,216 

Aggregate wages per month. . $127,492 

Capital invested... ..$2,078,000 

Wages paid per year $1,145,800 

Annual product $7,250,000 



BRICK, STONE, ETC. 



Roofing Manufacturers 

Artificial Stone Manufacturers .= 3 

Roofing Slate 1 

Brick Manufacturers 16 

Stonecutters 26 

Marble Manufacturers 10 

Asphalt Favement Manufacturers -1 



CAPITAL. 



EM- MONTH Y AX'l. PRO- 

PLOYEES. WAGES. DrC'TION. 



390,000 

■2;. -i.OOO 

500,000 

1.552,000 

4,201,000 

J.000 

20,000 



130,000 


66 


$4,350 


354,000 


122 


7.137 


500,000 


200 


12,750 


547,000 


1,472 


77,280 


1,802,200 


2,416 


188,161 


178,000 


321 


13,7-20 


3,000 


20 


650 



SUMMARY. 



Number of Establishments - - 5 1 

Number prior to 1860 --• [' 

Number of Employees. •"••'■ • ■' 

Capital invested $8,414,300 

Wages paid per year - $8,669, 1 it 

Annual product. $7,670,000 



134 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



MANUFACTURES IN LEATHER. 



Boots and Shoes 17 

Whip Manufacturers . .- 1 

Truss Man uf acturers - - 1 

Trunk Manufacturers : - 10 

Blank Book Manufacturers 4 

Leather Belt Manufacturers :. 1 



CAPITAL. 



EM- 
PLOYEES. 



L,895,000 
202,000 
3,000 
181,000 
160,000 
100,000 



1,304 

15 

3 

214 

300 

40 



MONTHLY] AN L PRO- 
WAGES. ' DUCTION. 



$59,730 

425 

11,356 

13,412 

2,000 



$2,665,000 

10,000 

15,000 

516,000 

380,000 

175,000 



SUMMARY. 

NunYber of Establishments 34 

Number prior to 1860 - - 13 

Number of Employees - - 1,86? 

Capital in vested. - $2,341,000 

Wages paid per year $1,160,808 

Annual product $3,001,000 



BEER AND LIQUOR. 



Brewers 


10 


Distillers. 


7 


Malsters 


— 6 



CAPITAL. 



EM- 
PLOYEES. 



$2,7(52,000 
985.000 
460,000 



303 

142 

67 



MONTHLY AN'L PBO- 
WAGES. DUCTION 



$20,800 

23,665 

4,290 



2,845,000 

5,335,600 

950,000 



SUMMARY. 

Number of Establishments 22 

Number of Establishments prior to 1860 5 

Number of Employees 512 

Capital invested $4,207,000 

Wages paid per year. $50S,930 

Annual product $9,140,000 



CHEMICALS, CONDIMENTS, ETC. 



White Lead and Oil Works 4 

Medicine Manufacturers 3 

Varnish do 2 

Vinegar do .:' *5 

Mustard do 2 

Baki ng Powd er Manufacturers .. _ _ " _ 6 

Pickle Manufacturers 2 

Socla and Oil Manufacturers .. 7 

Oil Works "3 

Candy Works .7 

Soap Works .7 



CAPITAL. 



$750,000 
610,000 
175,000 
26,000 
11,000 
260,000 
175,000 
244,000 
103,000 
266,000 
156,000 



EM- 
PLOYEES. 



425 

68 

20 

17 

8 

180 

410 

215 

35 

395 

77 



MONTHLY 'AN'L PRO- 
WAGES. ! DUCTION. 



$22,610 

1,600 
2,200 
1.036 
1,655 
7,028 
6,800 

11,693 
2,400 

11,630 
4,000 



$2,124,000 

270,000 

300,000 

54,000 

20,000 

1,028,000 

400,000 

1,820,000 

874,000 

440,000 

615,000 



SUMMARY. 

Number of Establishments 61 

Number of EstablishmeLts prior to 1860 14 

Number of Employees 2,128 

Capital invested ....$2,984,500 

Wages paid per year $885,264 

Annual Products $9,122,500 



MANUFACTURES. 



135 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



c 



Bed and Bedding Manfr ...4 

Tobacco and Cigars _ 14 

Hat Manfr 11 

Ladies' Hat and Frame Manfr... 3 

Writing Inks Manfr '. , -2 

Printing Inks Manfr. 1 

Pap. r Manfr 2 

Match Manfr 1 

Paper Balloon Manfr 1 

Waste Cleaning Works 1 

Mop Head and Handle Manfr 1 

Oil Cup Manfr 1 

Open Sign Manfr 1 

Maccaroni Mauf r . . .1 

Umbrella Manfr ..1 

Wringing Machine Roller Manfr -1 

Ivory" Turning Works - 1 

Orchestrion Manfr _ 1 

Jewelry Case Manfr . 1 

Button Manfr . 1 

Clothing Manfr 12 

Neck Wear Manfr 1 

Carpet Weaver : 1 

Cooper Shops 5 

Paper Box Manfr 5 

Brush Manfr 2 

Hay Press Works ..1 

Sails and Awning Manfr. .8 

Willow Ware Manfr 4 

Ornamental Glass Manfr .4 

Billiard Table Manfr ..4 

Flour and Feed Mills 7 

Coffee and Spice Mills 2 

Cotton Batting Manfr 4 

Cork and Bung Manfr 2 

Bakeries -_8 

Lime Works .7 

Show Case Manfr 6 

Lace Mauf r . 1 



CAPITAL. 



EM- 
PLOYEES. 



MONT HLY : AN'L PRO- 
WAGES. DUCTION. 



$ 14.600 

346,500 

247.000 

45,000 

20,000 

50,000 

650,000 

30,000 

5,000 

5,000 

8,000 

3,000 

1.000 

8^500 

20,000 

5,000 

5,000 

1,000 

1,000 

5,000 

1,700,000 

25,000 

1,000 

185,000 

34,500 

80,000 

20,000 

64,000 

20,000 

55,000 

373,000 

495,000 

120,000 

48,000 

60,000 

371,000 

298,000 

31,000 

8,000 



34 

447 

217 

300 

13 

30 

190 

75 

2 

5 

6 

5 

6 

15 

30 

10 

4 

3 

3 

15 

9,306 

60 

3 

192 

167 

57 

10 

124 

23 

101 

215 

165 

47 

43 

43 

290 

372 

42 

10 



$ 2,340 

17,133 

12,975 

9,100 

850 

2.600 

4,533 

1,192 

160 

250 

300 

275 

433 

600 

1,520 

500 

250 

160 

275 

866 

150.916 

2,000 • 

150 

11,700 

5,742 

3,700 

500 

8,060 

1,160 

7,410 

13,433 

9,583 

5,500 

1,842 

2,170 

19,050 

19,732 

2,903 

150 



$ 73,000 

2,314,500 

860,000 

300,000 

70,000 

80,000 

775,000 

198,000 

25,000 

25,000 

50,000 

20,000 

5,000 

16,500 

30,000 

10,000 

6,000 

5,000 

5,000 

50,000 

7,160,000 

250,000 

5,000 

345,000 

180,000 

275,000 

50,000 

337,000 

42,000 

260,000 

825,000 

1,225.000 

370,500 

187,000 

70,000 

1,238,000 

488,000 

118,000 

20,000 



SUMMARY. 

Number of Establishments 

Number of Establishments prior to 1860... 

N umber of Employees 

Capital invested 

Wages paid per year 

Annual product 



..134 

28 
.".7.7.12,680 
..$5,459,100 
..#3,977,220 
. $18,208,000 



136 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



GENERAL SUMMARY. 

The following table presents a summary -view of the number of establishments in each of 
the classes into which we have divided the manufactories of Chicago, together with the devel- 
opment since 1860, and the present production per year: 



NUMBER 

estabi/d 
1873. 



NUMBER J PRESENT 
UP TO ANNUAL 

1860. PRODUCT. 



Iron Works 

Wood Works 

Iron and Wood (additional to foregoing) 

Silver Smelting, and Works in Brass, Type Metal, and 

Terra Cotta \ - 

Brick and Stone .-. _ 

Leather (including Boots and Shoes) 

Malt and Spirituous Liquors 

Chemicals, Varnish, etc - 

Miscellaneous 



Total 



127 


26 


$32,103,000 


143 


26 


18,607,000 


1 58 


26 


17,419,500 


24 ' 


5 


7,250,000 


57 


6 


7,570,000 


34 


13 


3,001,000 


22 


5 


9,140,000 


61 


14 


9,122,500 


134 


28 


18,268,000 


660 


149 


$122,481,000 



Number concerns established since 1870 

Total number of Employees 

Total Capital invested 

Total Wages per annum 

Total yearly product..-- 



182 

48,429 

..$50,017,500 
..$27,700,828 
.$122,481,000 



Additional Figures. — A word with reference to the number and 
extent of the manufacturing establishments of Chicago, as they ap- 
pear upon this list, and as they have been customarily reckoned in 
the lists given by one authority or another in past years. In the list by 
which the aggregate manufactures of this city were made to reach 
$76,000,000 odd in 1870, we find several branches of business classi- 
fied with manufactures which Mr. Schoff leaves out of his account : 
printing, for instance, of which the total product in 1872 must 
have been at least twenty per cent, greater than that of 1870, 
reported at $3,000,000, that is to say, $3,600,000 ; and ship- 
carpentry, which we estimate at $225,000 for 1872. The heavi- 
est item to be added to the above lists, however, is the manu- 
facture of cured meats, which has grown so rapidly that we 
now place its aggregate at $33,750,000, and the total number of 
hands employed at 6,250. This estimate is founded upon the rela- 
tive number of hogs and cattle packed in 1869-70, and in 1872-3. 
During the former season, there were 688,140 hogs and 11,963 beef 
cattle packed, and in the latter season 1,425,079 hogs and 15,675 
beef cattle ; and as the number of men required in the former season 
is stated at 2,500, and the total value at $13,500,000, we feel justified 
by the "rule of three," even after deducting something for the lower 
price of the packing product, in placing the force at 5,250 men, and 
the product at $33,750,000. 

We must also add printing to the tables above given, inasmuch as 



MANUFACTURES. 137 

that industry is customarily classed among manufactures. We esti- 
mate the product of this industry at $3,600,000 per annum, and the 
force employed at 1,500. 

It will be seen that Mr. Schorl's list includes only 660 establish- 
ments, while even so obtuse an agency as the United States census 
force found 1,149 establishments in 1870. The only inference is, 
that the former authority made a very rigid classification, discarding 
or failing to canvass hundreds of small concerns which, though not 
in all cases worthy of separate mention, should not be omitted from 
the general account. This fact is evinced by the very large average 
of hands employed, according to his report — over 73 to each estab- 
lishment. A recent calculation in " The Times," based on the latest 
directory of the city, placed the total number of manufactories in 
Chicago at 4,703 — a number obviously inflated, inasmuch as it 
included carpenters, retail bakers, blacksmiths, etc., in the list, just 
as Mr. John S. Wright did in his O-be-joyful volume of date 1868. 
Supposing half " The Times " list to be legitimate, we have 2,000 
snug little manufacturing concerns to add to Mr. Schoff's list ; and 
we will say that these 2,000 shops employ an average of eight hands 
each, and turn out an average yearly product worth $10,000 each. 
That yields an aggregate of 16,000 more artisans and $20,000,000 
more manufactured goods per annum. Adding now these, with the 
printers, the packers and their respective products to the numbers 
given in the foregoing tables, and we have a total force of 70,999 
persons (it wouldn't do to speak loosely for the sake of round num- 
bers) engaged to-day in manufactures in Chicago, and an aggregate 
of $179,831,000 as the yearly product of their handiwork and of the 
machinery, which is, here more than anywhere else, made auxiliary 
to manual labor. 

Food for a City-Full. — These artisans are well paid. The aver- 
age yearly wages of all employees included in Mr. Schoff's list — 
men, women and children — is $5,507. They are certainly well paid 
in view of the cheapness of living in Chicago, where provisions are 
at most not more than half as costly as in Eastern or European cit- 
ies, and where every head of a family may own a house and lot by 
the appropriation of two or three years' savings. How many persons 
will the wages of these 71,000 artisans support ? At the rate of living 
prevalent in Europe (wages being as in Chicago), six persons to each 
workman would be a very moderate estimate. Inasmuch, however, as 
our artisans' children go to school, and artisans' wives are as respecta- 



138 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

ble as anybody, we will allow only three persons to each employee of 
these shops and factories (this number has been verified by actual 
canvass in several large factories). Hence we find that a population 
of 213,000, or upwards of one-half the entire population of the city, 
is already supported by the manufactures of what most people are 
still disposed to regard as " an exclusively commercial city." 

Location of Manufactures. — On all the business thoroughfares of 
the city more or less manufacturing is to be found, as a matter of 
course. The heavier work naturally gathers along the North and 
South branches of the river, and" on the north side of the main stream 
near its mouth, the south side being taken up by railroad warehouses 
and yards, by steamboat docks, and by heavy merchandizing ware- 
houses. More iron and wood manufactures are found on Clinton 
street, and its two neighbors on either side — Canal and Jefferson — 
than upon all other streets in the city, outside of the manufacturing 
district described below ; though there is a good number of foun- 
dries and other manufacturing establishments of large capital to be 
found in the North Division, within a square or two of the North 
Branch of the river. The tanneries and distilleries mostly cluster 
around the North Branch, whose own odor is at present congenial to 
such neighborhood. The stone-cutting is done chiefly near the 
South Branch and in the vicinity of Polk and Harrison streets ; and, 
the packing business has its seat north of the Union Stock Yards, 
whose location is shown upon the map. 

The South Branch District. — The district which has become well 
known under this name lies on the west fork of the South Branch, 
west of Ashland avenue and south of Twenty-second street. As it 
has been rapidly improved with special reference to the wants of 
heavy manufacturing establishments, and has already been occupied 
by half a dozen of the largest concerns in the West, some account 
of it is here necessary. 

The development of this district has been almost exclusively the 
enterprise of Mr. Samuel J. Walker. This gentleman, in 1854, pur- 
chased one and a half miles of the river front, west of Ashland 
avenue and south of Twenty-second street, and extending across 
and beyond the canal, so as to embrace from 1,400 to 1,500 acres, 
for the purpose of creating a manufacturing center. To this end he 
has already expended over a quarter of a million dollars. Directly 
after the fire he commenced dredging out slips and providing dock 
frontage, and private railway tracks, with a view of attracting man- 



MANUFACTURES. 139 

ufactures to that locality. Six of these slips are completed, and more 
are in progress. 

Those completed make an aggregate front of 20,000 feet ; besides 
this, there are three miles of river front, all of which is high and 
dry land, susceptible of being used for dock purposes. In addition 
to the above ample accommodations, there are 10,400 feet of front 
on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. All told, the subdivision con- 
tains a magnificent dock frontage of 45,000 feet, or over eight lineal 
miles. 

The Chicago & Northwestern; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ; 
Pacific, Chicago & St. Louis ; Alton & St. Louis, and Chicago, Dan- 
ville & Vincennes railways, center here, and by means of the Union 
Stock Yards switch cars from every road entering the city can be 
sent to any part of the track. Along the head of each slip runs a 
private railway, and from this, switches run between the slips, so 
that the transfer arrangements are absolutely perfect. 

Attracted by such accommodations, the following manufactories 
have located within this district : 

The reaper works of the McCormick brothers, said to be the larg- 
est in the world, having a capacity to turn out 20,000 finished reap- 
ers per year. The building, which is 350x360 feet and five stories 
in height, cost $350,000, and has $150,000 worth of machinery. The 
product of these works from March 1, 1873, when they first went 
into operation, to September 1, 1873, was n,ooo finished machines. 
The works give employment to 800 men ; 

The railway supply manufactory of Wells, French & Co., which 
employs a force of 130 men and occupies ten acres of ground. Its 
products are railway cars, bridges and similar commodities ; 

The Columbian Iron Works, which employs 300 men, and turns 
out a great many varieties of cast, forged and rolled iron goods, 
making a specialty of the heaviest castings, and of several machines 
for working iron. This concern has shipped tons of goods to Pitts- 
burgh within the past year — which may seem like carrying coals to 
Newcastle, but which was certainly more profitable to the shipper 
than that proverbial transaction would have been ; 

The car building establishment of F. E. Canda & Co., which 
employs 400 hands and a capital of $350,000, and turns out 175 box 
freight cars and 6 passenger cars per month ; 

The Barnum & Richardson Manufacturing Company's car-wheel 
factory, which turns out 300 wheels per day ; 



140 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

The furniture factory of Swan, Clark & Co., which employs a cap- 
ital of $175,000, and a working force of 175 men; 

The Chicago Stove Works, which employs a capital of $200,000 
and a force of 200 men, turning out 20,000 stoves per annum; 

The car-wheel foundry of B. F. Russell, turning out 115 wheels 
per day ; 

The turn-table factory of E. J. Halsted, which employs 75 men 
and turns out 100 turn-tables per year; 

The Union Rolling Mill Company, which employs 600 men and 
produces 150 tons of steel and iron rails per day ; 

The furnaces of the Joliet Iron and Steel Company, which em- 
ploy 75 men an d smelts 60 tons of ore per day for the company's 
main works at Joliet, r near Chicago ; 

The Chicago Malleable Iron Company, which has but recently 
commenced the erection of buildings, to cover about six acres of 
ground, and which will have some 300 men employed by January 1, 
1874; 

The Chicago Plate and Bar Metal Company, which employs 75 
men, and turns out 70 tons of manufactured metal per week ; 

Some thirty brick-yards, which produce from 5,000,000 to 11,000,- 
000 brick each, per year. (N. B. : Schoff has only sixteen brick- 
yards on his whole list.) 

All the above establishments, with three exceptions, have been 
built since the fire ; a growth which is remarkable, especially since 
the facilities for reaching the district from the center of the city, and 
for living in the vicinity of the factories, are as poor as the railroad 
and shipping facilities of the locality are excellent. -This defect will 
be remedied in a year or two, however, and the most inestimable of 
city privileges — a certain water supply — is being ensured by the 
construction, now in process, of the lake tunnel and pumping- 
works. The tunnel or water-main extends from the west end of the 
new lake tunnel at the lake-shore, three and five-sixths miles under 
the city, in a straight line to the site of the proposed new pumping- 
works, near the southwest corner of Ashland and Blue Island avenues. 
These new pumping-works will equal, if not excel, in beauty of de- 
sign, size, and cost, the present water-works of Chicago. The bot- 
tom of the inside surface of the tunnel, at its eastern terminus, is 
seventy-one feet below the ordinary level of the lake, and is to 
ascend gradually to the west end. There are to be nine working 
shafts, situated respectively on Chicago avenue, Illinois street, Frank- 



MANUFACTURES. 141 

lin street, Jackson street, Polk street, Waller street, Rebecca street, 
Nineteenth street, and at the western terminus. Besides these, there 
will be nine fire-shafts at different points. The shaft at Chicago 
avenue will be ten feet in diameter at the bottom of the pump, which 
is to be five feet below the bottom of the tunnel. The fire-shafts 
will be three and one-half feet in clear diameter. The clear width 
of the tunnel is to be over seven feet, the top and bottom arches to 
be semi-circles. It will be lihed with brick measuring eleven inches 
thick, in three rings or shells, the bricks lying lengthwise, with tooth- 
ing joints. It will be seen, from the above description in part, that 
the work will be firm, secure, and as nearly everlasting as the work 
of man can make it. 

The South Chicago Manufacturing District. — At South Chicago, 
where the Calumet river empties into Lake Michigan, there are extra- 
ordinary advantages for manufacturing, which are being appropiated 
rapidly; a very large woolen mill, three iron mills, a glue and ferti- 
lizer factory, and several minor establishments having already got 
into operation, and a rolling-mill and lumber factory, each of the 
first class, being under way. Owing to the bulk to which this chap- 
ter has already swollen, and the necessity of treating South Chicago 
somewhat at length, the subject will be deferred to a subsequent 
chapter. 

Where Will it End '? — Where will this wonderful development of 
manufactures in Chicago end ? The question is a difficult one to 
answer — the more so, as the present seems to be only the beginning 
of a great movement which promises to bring great numbers of the 
manufacturing concerns of the East and Europe into Chicago, either 
with branches or with their whole establishments — capital, skilled 
workmen, reputation, and all. We may as well evade the question — 
"where will it end ? " by copying, to close this chapter, a portion of an 
editorial in the " Sunday Times " of recent date, prepared by the 
editor of the present work, in which, for the first time, the vastness of 
our recent achievements and present standing in respect to manufac- 
tures was acknowledged editorially in a great daily journal : 

" Among the extensive manufacturing enterprises which have been founded in 
Chicago within the past two years, are the three rolling-mills for the production of 
steel and iron rails. These mills have a total capacity of 65,000 tons of steel rails 
and 60,000 tons of iron rails per annum — that is, 125,000 tons in all, worth in mar- 
ket about $11,000,000, and capable of ironing 1,050 miles of road. This is more 
than one-third the whole steel rail capacity in the United States, and up to this 
capacity the mills were worked last year. The grange troubles of the present sea- 



142 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

son are damaging the market for railroad iron, but the effect is only temporary, 
since there are tens of thousands of miles of railroad, reached easier from Chicago 
than from any other place, which require new rails as soon as funds permit. These 
rolling-mills employ 4,000 men, which implies a population of 20,000 supported by 
this industry alone. 

" Coming into other branches of iron manufacture (which lies at the base of all 
manufactures) we find that they have developed amazingly within the last two or 
three years. To say nothing of the half dozen extensive works which have sprung 
up since the fire, and which made architectural iron casting a specialty, there is 
observable a wonderful increase in the general foundry and machinery business. 
The four foundries which make car wheels a specialty or a branch have a capacity 
of 400 wheels per day — 15,000 8-wheel cars per year, The Union Iron Works 
and Crane Brothers Manufacturing Company, which embrace almost all varieties of 
heavy work in iron, have grown up gradually within half a dozen years from petty 
shops to gigantic establishments, employing 1,500 men and supporting a population 
of 7,500. There is not an iron works within the knowledge of " The Times" that 
has not greatly increased — in most cases doubled — its annual product since 1870, 

" And they are coming in every day, insomuch that the daily newspapers, ever on 
the alert for new things, no longer consider a huge factory with half a million dollars 
capital, and certain to increase our productive population by five or ten thousand, 
an item worth making more than a paragraph about. 

" Our old manufacturers are not content to repose on their laurels, but keep peg- 
ging away and winning new ones. The McCormick Brothers, for instance. A year 
ago the tract of twenty-three acres on the South Branch, now occupied by the works 
of this concern, had on it nothing except a thrifty crop of corn and cabbages. Now, 
not only has that ground been covered with a factory costing, with its machinery, 
half a million dollars, but that factory has already turned out 11,000 completed 
reapers and mowers, all of which have been marketed. This number is 2,000 
greater than had been reached in any whole year previous to the fire. These works 
support a population of 4,000. 

" The Silicon Steel Works, the Chicago Steel Company, the Chicago Malleable 
Iron Company, and other kindred establishments which are being set up either in 
this city or on the Calumet at South Chicago, and which will be in operation within 
three months, are not included in any of these figures given above, nor have we 
space for details of the three silver-smelting works which have been established in 
or near Chicago within the past two years, and which turn out $4,000,000 worth of 
bullion per annum ; nor of the already vast and very rapidly increasing business in 
the manufacture of furniture, leather, clothing, boots and shoes, brick, etc., in which 
Chicago already leads every other western city, and flour, in which she gained on 
St. Louis 415,963 barrels — more than half the annual product of the latter city — 
during the seven years of which we have statistics at hand. 

" These latter items are matters of course, incident to the progress of Chicago in 
other particulars. The remarkable increase in the heavier articles of traffic is 
something for which the outside world was less prepared. 

" What is the cause of it? Chicago has no mineral deposits under her walls, — 
one would say she ought to be a purely commercial city, rather than a manufactur- 
ing burgh, — a selling and shipping, rather than a smelting, founding, rolling and 
grinding town. 






MANUFACTURES. 143 

" Well, the cause of it simply is that our railroads and steamboats have been 
multiplied until they have brought practically under our walls the ores which are 
mined hundreds of miles away. While St. Louis has a slight advantage of Chicago 
in respect to proximity to certain iron and coal ores, Chicago has a much greater 
advantage in that she can, u nlike the other town, command all varieties of coal 
and iron at prices which make manufacturing amply remunerative. By piercing 
the coal districts of Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, with half a dozen new railroads 
within the past year or two, we have secured an advantage on coal that is telling the 
story for our manufactures ; and the dialf a dozen additional roads now in progress, 
some of which will land coal in Chicago for less than $3 per ton adds another inter- 
esting chapter. Then with us, wages are at least 10 per cent, lower than in St. 
Louis — an item still more important than coal; and most important of all, we 
have an almost boundless market which is growing even faster than Chicago herself 
and of which we have taken possession by means of a system of railroads affording 
the best distributing facilities in the world. 

" These are some of the causes of our prosperity in manufacturing. What will 
be the effect of it ? Why, not that Chicago will become a manufacturing instead of 
a commercial city, but that she will simply add manufactures to her commerce in 
such proportion as to make her development symmetrical and her future sure. 
Kansas City may pack some of the beef, Milwaukee may brew the beer and handle 
a good share of the amber wheat, Peoria may help convert the corn into highwines, 
and other towns may do their share in working up the raw commodities of the 
great west. Chicago will not worry about that. She has a higher and broader mis- 
sion — to import, to manufacture, to job at tide-water prices for cash, and to act as 
the general consolidated metropolis of this big empire." 



SOME CHICAGO INSTITUTIONS. 



Two Hundred and Twelve Churches — Forty-nine Secret Mutual Benefit Societies 
— Eighty-three Open Charitable Organizations — Two and a Quarter Million 
Dollars in Public School Buildings, etc. — Collegiate Institutions — Public 
Library, etc. 

Public works, institutions supported out of the public revenue,, 
except schools, and all establishments for justice, police regulation,, 
etc., incident to government, are elsewhere adverted to ; but it 
remains to give some account of other institutions, especially those 
of worship, education, and mercy. 

Summary Statement. — There are in Chicago 212 organized church 
congregations and societies, 83 benevolent and other open societies,. 
49 Masonic and other secret societies, exclusive of industrial unions, 
etc. ; 82 educational establishments, other than public schools ; 24 
hospitals and asylums ; 8 public libraries ; 3 city railway corpora- 
tions ; and 14 theaters and opera houses of reputable grade; to all 
which may be added 84 newspapers. 

Church Edifices. — There are in Chicago 238 houses of public wor- 
ship, including mission churches. While all the well known denom- 
inations are represented, together with several Hebrew, the charac- 
teristic feature of Chicago religion is the uncommon degree of 
mutual tolerance and cooperation. In many of the systematic 
charities, in temperance reform, in conserving the Sabbath, and in 
several other works of practical religion, even the once impassable 
distinction between Protestant and Roman Catholic is frankly 
ignored, while among Protestants, denominational differences are 
scarcely traceable in organized labors of Christian zeal. 

The edifices devoted to religion are conspicuously elegant and 
ample, the rebuilding of churches since the fire having been as 
marked in promptitude as that of business houses, in most cases. 
Among those which now adorn the city, we may name the Union 
Park and the Ann street Congregational churches, the latter rebuilding 



CHURCHES OF CHICAGO. 



M5 



after destruction by a recent fire; St. James', situated on Cass street 
corner of Huron street; Grace church, on Wabash avenue, and St' 
John's, on Ashland avenue, all Episcopal; the First Presbyterian 
Indiana avenue and 21st street, and Second Presbyterian, Wabash 




Unity Church. 

avenue and 20th street; Unity church (Robert Collyer's), and the 
new Church of the Messiah (both Unitarian), on the corner of Mich- 
igan avenue and 23d street; Grace church on Chicago avenue, and 
innity church, Indiana avenue, near 24th street, both Methodist 
Episcopal; and the Michigan Avenue Baptist church; are all costly 
and beauttful structures. Prof. David Swing, a leader in the Chicago 



pulpit, closed a recently published essay with the remark that 
10 



per 



146 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

haps the next vast public edifice will be neither an exposition build- 
ing nor a grand hotel, but a Temple of Worship that will bring five 
thousand poor children together every Sunday, where they may meet 
at once loving friends and a loving God ! " 

Public Schools. — The educational institutions of Chicago are sat- 
isfactory and their prospects eminently promising. 

The pupilary population of Chicago in September, 1872, when a 
school census was taken, was 88,219. About 35,000 are at present 
{September, 1873) in attendance at the public schools. The follow- 
ing are suggestive statistics : 

Appropriations for schools in 1873, $1,113,974.95 ; cost of school 
houses rebuilt since the fire, $202,915.59, with seats for 4,274 pupils. 
Expenditures for the last year, $564,568.33 ; for buildings last year, 
$133,607.47. Value of school lots in possession of the Board, 
$1,008,255 ; value of buildings, furniture, etc., $1,297,475. The city 
is divided into 34 districts, having ^6 schools and 51 buildings. 
Total number of teachers, 564, of whom only 32 are males. 

The system comprises a normal and a high school course, as well 
as the lower grades. The object of the former, which is well 
attained, is the training of teachers ; while in the high schools, four 
years instruction in languages, mathematics, and the classics, are 
accessible to pupils who aspire to it. The Chicago graded system 
has been so successful as to have become the general model for 
northwestern schools, and to have been in part adopted by the Min- 
isters of Education in France. In two respects the common schools 
of Chicago are said to be preeminent over any others in the country, 
;not excepting Boston, viz. : Perfect discipline without tolerating cor- 
poreal punishment, and musical culture. Singing, in theory and prac- 
tice, is taught to every pupil, without distinction, and with such suc- 
cess that on the occasion of the late so-called Musical "Jubilee," 
the vocal performance of a select body of school children evoked 
the surprise and applause of thousands of strangers. At the late 
Vienna Exposition, a medal of Progress was awarded to the public 
•school system of Chicago. 

The Bible, though disused in St. Louis and Cincinnati after a pro- 
longed struggle, has survived the odium theologicum in the Chicago 
schools, and is still used, without considerable objection. The 
.reason is notable: care is taken to employ those passages only in 
which Christians of all descriptions have alike and at all times joined 
without controversy. With this spirit, the Roman Catholic laity 



EDUCATION. -. 147 

have so heartily sympathized, that the effort for separate parochial 
schools is now no longer pressed with ardor by that venerable but 
jealous Church. 

Private Schools. — The private schools had 14,496 pupils in Sep- 
tember, 1872, and their number is believed to be about the same 
now. Altogether, about 50,000 children between the ages of six and 
twelve are at school in Chicago, leaving about 30,000 non-attend- 
ants. Nevertheless, it is understood that the statistics of illiteracy, 
notwithstanding the very large foreign proportion, are in favor of 
Chicago over any other western city. Included in the private 
schools are the denominational schools of the Roman Catholics, Luth- 
erans, and Jews, two or three Kindergartens after the German 
model, and some places of instruction in technical rudiments. 

Theological Schools, etc. — With regard to more advanced educa- 
tion, there are several academies and seminaries of approved credit, 
including an excellent Roman Catholic Academy, and the Convent 
of St. Xavier. There are also, besides special theological depart- 
ments of the Universities, a Presbyterian and a Baptist Theological 
Seminary, and a Roman Catholic University, though the destruction 
by the Fire of the buildings of this institution has suspended it. 

Collegiate Institutions. — Oxford, Cambridge, and Heidelberg, date 
back in the gloamin' of the Dark Ages, -and even Yale, Harvard, 
Bowdoin and Dartmouth are hoary with time and venerable with 
a history older than the great Republic. Chicago would be justly 
reprehensible were she, after half the Lime, to fail to have institutions 
of learning much more excellent ; for opportunity is something in 
which the age is rich. Nevertheless, it will be, with no aspiration to 
challenge comparison with the best institutions of older States, that 
we mention, as well worthy the pride of Chicagoans, the seats of 
learning already established. 

The Northwestern University ranks first among Chicago's institu- 
tions for the promotion of a higher education. Though founded less 
than a quarter of a century ago, and enjoying few or no munificent 
endowments, it has already grown to be a full-fledged University, as 
American universities go, with a faculty of some forty professors, a 
property of $1, 268, 860, and an annual list of over 600 students. Its 
history will be treated more in detail under the head " Evanston," in 
Part V. 

The Chicago University is situated within the city, at Cottage Grove, 
in the midst of a beautiful forest of oak, in view of Lake Michigan. 



148 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

It originated in 1855 with the late Stephen A. Douglas, who in that 
year consented to donate ten acres of the beautiful grove upon the 
lake shore, as a site, and in the year following conveyed the land to 
Dr. J. C. Burroughs in trust for the future institution. In 1857 the 
university was incorporated and building begun, and completed the 
following year. Dr. Burroughs was the first, and has continued the 
only President of the University. Starting in 1858 with three pro- 
fessors and six pupils (!) in fifteen years, the Faculty has increased 
to twenty- one, including some of the most eminent instructors of the 
country; while the attendance reached 281 pupils in 1872 — 359 
having already graduated, and the total attendance having aggregated 
3,531 pupils. After Mr. Douglas had determined upon the donation, 
it is understood that the Presbyterian denomination received the first 
invitation to second the gift, but some delay having intervened, Mr. 
Douglas made the offer to the Baptists, who promptly accepted it. 
But the choice of a religious organization was but a measure of facil- 
ity in completing the design, and in no sense, a subordination of the 
institution to sectarian objects. Accordingly the University charter 
gives to the Baptist denomination the leading representation, but yet 
leaves its privileges and honors open to all ; its Boards of Trustees, 
and Regents, and its Professorships, being open to representatives 
from any religious denomination. In the words of the charter, 
" Otherwise than that the majority of the Trustees and the President 
of the University shall forever be of the same religious denomina- 
tion as the majority of this corporation, no religious test or particu- 
lar religious profession shall ever be held as a requisite for admission 
to any department of the University, or for election to any profes 2 
sorship or other place of honor or emolument in it ; but the same 
shall be open alike to persons of any religious faith or profession.' 
To quote the exact words of President Burroughs : " In receiving 
the property from Mr. Douglas, it was stipulated only that the work 
should go forward promptly, and that, while a leading representation 
might be secured to my own church, there should yet be no exclusive 
denominational control, but a fair place given to all churches, and to 
men of no church, who might choose to cooperate. It will be seen 
that the charter of the University is conformed to this agreement, as 
has also been, I believe, the composition of the Board of Control, 
and of the Faculties, during the history of the University thus far. 
It will be bad faith to the dead, as well as the living, and, I believe , 
a mistake of the best way of adjusting denominational relations to 






COLLEGES. CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 149 

colleges in this country, if different counsels ever prevail. A narrow- 
sectarianism may find such a policy better suited to its ends ; but 
sectarianism has yet to show that it has ever gained anything, even 
for the church which it assumes to serve, while it has often sacrificed 
what is best in the progress and influence of colleges, to its own big- 
otry and selfishness." 

The most notable features of the University is the Dearborn Ob- 
servatory, provided with the great equatorial refracting telescope, 
the largest instrument of the kind in the country, of these dimen- 
sions : Diameter of declination circle, 30 inches; diameter of hour 
circle, 22 inches ; focal length of object glass, 23 inches; aperture of 
object glass, 18% inches. 

Medical Colleges. — Besides the medical department of the North- 
western University, which, as the Chicago Medical College, has an 
elegant building of its own, is the Rush Medical College, a flourish- 
ing institution, on an independent basis; and the Hahnemann Med- 
ical Institute, devoted to Homoeopathy. The former, which is one 
of the oldest institutions of Chicago, and a most respectable medical 
school, has not rebuilt since the fire, solely from a resolution to build 
adjacent to the site yet to be selected for the new County Hospital. 
Connected with the University, there are law schools of acknowl- 
edged usefulness. 

The institutions of charity in Chicago are distinguished for their 
number and their excellence even more than for their magnitude, 
either of buildings or of endowments. 

Relief and Aid Society. — The Chicago Relief and Aid Society has 
erected at 51 and 53 La Salle street an elegant and commodious 
building, at a cost of $50,000, for their offices, and for assembly 
rooms for all manner of benevolent societies of the city. It has also 
established four fine medical dispensaries, and endowed the several 
hospitals in proportions following, viz : Mercy Hospital 40 beds ; St. 
Luke, 28; St. Joseph, 31 ; Women and Children's, 25 ; Hahnemann, 
15; Alexian Brothers, 18; Eye and Ear, 20. To these institutions 
may be added (besides the Cook County Public Hospital), the Wash- 
ingtonian Home for Inebriates, the Erring Women's Refuge, Catholic 
Asylum for boys, Chicago Reform and Industrial School, Nurs- 
ery and Half-Orphan Asylum, the Protestant Orphan Asylum, St. 
Mary and St. Joseph Orphan Asylum, Home of the Friendless, Chi- 
cago Foundlings' Home, the St. Paul's Presbyterian Orphan Asylum, 
the Old Ladies' Home, the Newsboys and Bootblacks' Home, etc. 
There are also Jewish, Irish, English, German, etc., aid societies. 



150 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Academy of Sciences.— The Academy of Sciences is an institution 
of promise, notwithstanding several signal misfortunes. In 1866 the 
Metropolitan Block was burned, and with it the property of the So- 
ciety, including eighteen thousand specimens of natural history, 
geology, palaeontology, archaeology, etc. In the same year, the most 
zealous and active member of the institution, Major Robert Kenni- 
cott, died in Alaska, whither he had been sent by the Smithsonian 
Institution at Washington. At a later day, in the Great Fire, Dr. Wil- 
liam Stimpson's unpublished manuscripts, drawings, etc., together 
with curious and invaluable specimens, all relating to China and 
Japan, the result of a tour under the official direction of the United 
States government, on which twenty laborious years of his life had spent 
their ripening energies, were forever lost to the Academy and the world; 
every other valuable thing of the institution perishing with them. The 
Academy was soon called to mourn the greater loss of the man him- 
self, long its efficient and beloved secretary Finally, after zealous, 
able, and devoted efforts for restoring a good footing to the society, 
but with the comforting satisfaction of seeing it once more fairly 
advancing, the third and most distinguished of the trio of men who 
had so long cooperated at Chicago for the organization of scientific 
effort and the exaltation of Western mind, departed this life this year 
(1873). We allude to Dr. J. W. Foster, president of the Academy. 
It was established in 1857. With the ruinous and irreparable losses 
which successively befell its collections and its archives, this noble 
institution might have been able to bear ; but with the loss of Ken- 
nicott, Stimpson, and, at length, Foster, its pillars fell. But already 
it has rebuilt at a cost of $45,000, and, with a new cabinet and mu- 
seum, reopened to the public under astonishingly favorable auspices. 

The Chicago Historical Society was organized in 1856, under char- 
ter. The Rev. William Barry, long its secretary, by his indefati- 
gable zeal, had succeeded in collecting nearly a hundred thousand 
documentary and other memorials, including fifteen thousand 
bound books, manuscripts, archaeological specimens, etc. The 
Society had a magnificent building on the corner of Ontario and 
Dearborn streets, costing $200,000, with reading room, lecture hall, 
offices, museum, store-room, etc. The fire destroyed it all. The 
Society, sensible of the loss, which can, from the nature of things, 
never be supplied, is not discouraged, but is expected at an early day 
to open its path of usefulness on a broader plan than ever. 

The Chicago Free Public Library is destined to be the pride of the 



FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 151 

city. It is scarce a year since it was chartered. Though contain- 
ing now but a few thousand volumes, and, as yet, without a building 
appropriate for such a purpose, yet the endowment, which is on the 
basis of public taxation, and with the object of a reading room and 
library open day and evening, Sunday included, is secure and ample. 
The amount already received or appropriated is about $100,000, and 
it is understood that the annual contribution is to be half that sum, 
at least. . 



BOARD OF TRADE. 



The Composition, Objects, Achievements, Episodes, Merits and Faults of that 
Most Characteristic of Chicago's Institutions. 



GARDEN edibles are said to grow so fast, sometimes, that 
particles of impurity are found by the cook " mechanically 
enclosed " in their fibres. With some exceptions, which, it is be- 
lieved, this body of business men faithfully and sternly eliminated 
as soon as clearly detected, it is surprising, upon the whole, that so 
little spurious commercial character has been " mechanically en- 
closed," during the swift growth of the Chicago Board of Trade, 
amongst those healthy, doughty fibres so well applauded all over the 
world. Within the year 1873, new and stringent regulations, super- 
induced by an experience of a few abuses, have been adopted, which, 
it is believed, will preserve and exalt the tone of Chicago business 
integrity. 

Passing Through Fire. — On the other hand, no better example is 
recollected in history of the compatibility of interest with generosity 
— and as soon as these are perfectly harmonized, civilization will be 
perfect — than is shown by the record of this Board, in a particular 
juncture, after the Great Fire. It rose to the full height of decision 
without injustice, invention without innovation, and force without 
violence. 

At the time the disaster came, like a bolt from the sky, the out- 
standing engagements for the delivery of grain in time future were 
probably greater in number and amount than ever before on any 
given day. The day before the fire ended a week of wheat receipts 
the largest ever known. "Time contracts," therefore, were uncom- 
monly rife. If it be considered that this species of engagement gives 
one or the other of the parties an arbitrary option, within prescribed 
limits, of maturing the time of consummation or profit, one need 
only to consider also the financial state of a city in ruins to imagine 



BOARD OF TRADE. 153 

the substantially useless yet inevitable anxiety and embarrassment of 
dealers. Here was a " Gordian knot " to untie, for which the secret 
lay with courts, juries, and lawyers. The green-bag of jurisprudence 
was a remote consolation, whether to A or B in the business, while 
all the business world seemed upside down. Under these circum- 
stances, the Board of Trade prudently but boldly cut said knot. At its 
first meeting, a resolution was passed to the effect that a general set- 
tlement should be had on thefbasis of prices current at the outbreak- 
ing of the fire. This arrangement did not legally bind, of course. 
But with a few (now ashamed of having been) exceptions, all 
promptly acquiesced in a measure so just. The Board refused to 
enforce its discipline in all cases of harmony with this principle; 
and of the resorts to court, it is said, every one issued unfavorably 
to the party who forgot that justice is older than and will outlast law. 

Officers. — The following are the principal officers at this time of 
the Board of Trade of Chicago : 

Charles E. Culver, President; Wm. N. Brainard, ist Vice Presi- 
dent ; Howard Priestly, 2d Vice President. Directors : Charles J. 
Davis, John R. Bensley, Wm. N. Sturges, Wm. E. Richardson, D. M. 
Ford, Joseph F. Armour, Robert Warren, Alexander Murison, Thos. 
Wight, E. B. Baldwin; Charles Randolph, Secretary; Orson Smith, 
Treasurer. 

Of this important body, let us glance at the history back to that 
stage at which we have thought fit to break the narrative of Chicago 
at large into descriptive sections. 

Historical Glance. — Until 1856, this body was a mere embryo; for 
a Board of Trade that can be induced to assemble, after often-tried 
experience, only by " crackers, ale, etc.," cannot be personified other- 
wise than as a child in utero. One railroad had been partially com- 
pleted, and was open far enough to prove what railroading could do, 
when the Board first organized as a legal body corporate in 1850. 
This road was at once the earliest and the only exclusively local 
railroad enterprise ever set on foot by Chicago. By the time the 
Board acquired a self-sufficient footing (1856), Chicago, in early but 
demonstrable prospect, was the greatest railroad center of the West. 
Yet, it is a fact that until that prospect had become an actual reali- 
zation, there was not so much as a serious recognition of the great 
builder of the city. 

For all shown by the records of the Board of Trade previous to 
the time (1859) when the body accepted the invitation of Missourians 



154 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

to attend the festivities of the opening of the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
railroad, one might infer there had never been such a thing connected 
with Chicago. With some prudent and sensible regulations of detail, 
such as equalizing charges for handling goods, substituting weight 
for bulk in reckoning grain in bushels, etc., the minds of members 
seem to have alternated amongst ill-defined and illusory plans for 
supplementing St. Lawrence navigation, and for dredging, clearing 
obstructions, etc., from the Illinois river, for steamboats. For the 
sake of the harbor there was a good deal of petitioning of Congress, the 
Legislature and the City Council ; of appointing inexpert committees 
to sound the mud and measure the sand-bars ; but the receipts of 
cattle and hogs had become three times, and those of grain twelve 
times, as great in 1856 as they had been in 1850, before the Board 
seems to have suspected the railroads of having been the means of 
bringing them. While from Boston to Baltimore the feeling was 
quickening for intimate passenger and commercial connection across 
the mountains and over vast spaces, and line upon line actually 
opened, the Board seems to have felt steam navigation to and from 
St. Louis as a paramount object ; sending committees thither from 
time to time, attending conventions at Peoria, and occupying its 
sessions at home with prolonged discussions conducted in the main 
by experienced Fourth of July orators, candidates for office or known 
visionaries. 

In 1853 the commerce (now more than $500,000,000) was discov- 
ered to have reached the intoxicating figure of $30,000,000, where- 
upon a bank was boldly projected by the Board, with a capital of 
$5,000,000 — nearly half the banking capital of the city at the present 
day. 

The Board in a Crisis. — When the commercial crash of 1857 came, 
the Board had an opportunity to distinguish itself by the wisdom of 
its councils ; but inspiration seems to have been reserved for the 
greater occasions of four and of fourteen years later. We have small 
record and less memory of any noteworthy relief it was able to afford. 
In a word, the principal use of the Chicago Board of Trade, almost 
up to the Rebellion, was to develop the present body, and it is 
enough that its mission was well performed. 

Nevertheless, in several important matters, the exertions of the 
Board were highly creditable and permanently useful, before reach- 
ing its full maturity. By protesting against a measure to constrain 
all transhipments of grain to be made at Buffalo, Which had been 



BOARD OF TRADE, 155 

proposed in the New York Legislature, by means of enhancing Erie 
canal tolls against patrons of the Welland canal, around the Falls of 
Niagara, they succeeded in defeating a selfish and injurious discrim- 
ination against their trade. They also kept the harbor improvement 
question in incessant agitation before Congress, even maintaining a 
delegation at Washington for some time (Messrs. Orrington Lunt and 
Thomas Hale), by which appropriations from time to time were 
facilitated. The classification and denomination of the different 
kinds of merchantable wheat was a matter requiring judgment, and 
the distinctions were so well made that it is understood that the 
grain trade of the world have found them satisfactory. Likewise, a 
very good system of lumber inspection was adopted, besides other 
valuable regulations. 

But the time was coming for the Board to acquire the footing 
proper to a Business Legislature. The Witenagemote of Chicago's 
Heptarchian days was getting to be the omnipotent parliament of her 
Imperial Era. 

An Organization which Meant Business. — -The first salaiied offi- 
cer appears to have been a Superintendent, at $1,500 per year, "who 
should look after the interests of the Board." This was in 1857 ; 
since which date the daily meetings have always been well attended. 

The initiation fee was $5.00. On the 5th of April, 1858, the tenth 

. . * . . . 

annual meeting, counting from the earliest organization of a Board 

— which is still the practice — was held. The first token now appears 
of a settled sense of the true purposes, and an active appreciation of 
the advantages of such organizations, in by-laws by which it was 
provided, that only actual residents, and they men actually in busi- 
ness, should be admitted to membership ; that on 'Change, contracts 
for freight, chartering of vessels, buying or selling provisions, grain, 
flour, or lumber, should be prohibited to all but members of the 
Board — a regulation not legally operative under their yet imperfect 
charter. New rules of tariff, and other matters of grain importation 
were adopted, and the duties of inspectors defined. The rules were 
printed, and 5,000 copies distributed, the warehousemen pledging 
themselves to have them carried out. Daily telegraphic reports of 
the markets of New York, Montreal, 'Buffalo and Oswego were 
ordered. These were permanently continued as to New York, but 
soon abandoned as to the other markets. With the acceptance of a 
new charter from the Legislature, and the adoption of new regula- 
tions befitting the new power of the Board, the year 1858 closed with 



156 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

good promise of usefulness, and a membership — mostly of zealous 
men in business, and who in attending "meant business " — of 520 
gentlemen. 

In 1859, arrangements were made for quarters on South Water 
street, to which the Board removed the next year, continuing to 
occupy them till the erection on the corner of Washington and La 
Salle streets, of the building destroyed by the fire, on the site of the 
present magnificent structure, elsewhere described. 

In April, i860, the twelfth annual meeting disclosed 625 names. 
The most notable event of the Board this year was its earnest, 
prompt, and for the time effectual remonstrance against the abro- 
gation of the Canada Reciprocity Treaty. 

In April, 1861, the membership was 725. The report of the Chief 
Inspector of Grain was elaborate and lucid, reviewing the preceding 
year, during which there had been shipped 1,603,920 barrels of flour, 
15,835,953 bushels of wheat, 24,372,725 bushels of corn, 1,633,237 
bushels of oats, 393,813 bushels of rye, 226,534 bushels of barley; a 
grand total, reducing flour to its equivalent of bushels of wheat, of 
50,481,862 bushels of grain. The packing season ending with that 
year, there had been packed 34,624 cattle, and 271,805 hogs ; total, 
306,429. The season beginning in that year (1861), 53,763 cattle 
packed, 505,691 hogs; total, 559,454. So vast were the figures of 
a trade, which, considered as large, was hardly ten years old. But 
they are doubled at the present day — hardly more than another ten 
years. 

Another Crisis. — The depression and gloom everywhere experi- 
enced during the awful crisis which preceded the explosion of public 
passion in civil war, were profound in Chicago. If the secession 
shut Southern markets for New England manufactures, a war could 
not fail to be as good a patron as the South, with entirely practicable 
transferences of working capital from one fabric or article to 
another, the impatient and mighty customer paying the cost of the 
change in the enhanced price of arms, ordnance, ships, cloths, fixed 
ammunition, shoes, vehicles, etc., etc. If Boston doubled in solid 
wealth since 1862, Boston expected it when to the people it cried 
" Union ! " to the scholar it proposed " delenda est servitudo" and to 
itself whispered " a better market." 

But Chicago and its Board of Trade had access to no such con- 
solations. Her banks based her currency on Southern State stocks ; 
her Southern trade was one of her supports, and among her inspir- 






BOARD OF TRADE IN WAR TIMES. 157 

ing hopes, hardly any one was dearer than that of inducing cotton to 
abandon the ocean route and seek New York by water through the 
Illinois and Michigan Canal, by which she cherished the dream of 
supplanting New York as the commission merchant, factor and 
banker of the South, and its then yet undeposed king, cotton. On 
the other hand, what was she ready to manufacture to sell to the 
government? Except a coffin contract, with her lumber and her 
carpenters, she could hardly feel like bidding for a share of that kind 
of relief against an Eastern factory. The blockade so necessarily 
declared by the government was a blockade of the Northwest as 
much as of the South for the first eighteen months of the war, and 
in every aspect, the war appeared to the Chicago mind a pure busi- 
ness calamity. 

The Board Tests its Patriotism. — Yet, quite in sympathy with the 
popular interests, the Board of Trade instantly took decided and 
emphatic ground on the subject. From New Orleans and other 
lower Mississippi cities, orders came in great amount with the gold 
for grain, but though intercourse had not yet been rendered illegal, 
the prevalent sentiment constrained the grain merchants to instantly 
decline to forward. The Board after discussion refused to. adminis- 
ter a test oath, but provided a regulation disallowing admission to 
membership of persons whose loyalty could be successfully im- 
peached. The patriotic ardor of the time was emulated by the 
Board. War meetings were nightly held and speeches made. Upon 
the July call for troops, a communication was received on the 17th 
on 'Change from the " Union Defense Committee," asking the Board 
to cooperate with other committees at a meeting to be held at Bryan 
Hall on the following Saturday. The Board responded heartily and 
joined in a grand mass meeting in the Court House square. On the 
next Monday, the day of the first battle of Manassas ( u Bull Run "), 
it was resolved to mount a battery of artillery to be called the " Board 
of Trade battery," to serve for three years unless sooner discharged, 
and that the same be tendered to the government. For the money 
necessary to pay the bounties, it was resolved that the Board appro- 
priate $10,000, and that the members be " invited " to subscribe to 
this fund such amounts as their patriotic feelings should suggest, 
and that a committee of five be appointed to carry out the resolu- 
tions, and put the battery on a " war footing." Thus began a series 
of ardent and earnest measures which never abated until after the 
war. Regiments were raised, employers reserving the places of 



158 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

employees who would volunteer, immense sums were raised by vol- 
untary subscription for war purposes, besides appropriations, impos- 
ing public honors were paid the fallen, and the excitement frequently 
carried the Board quite out of its sphere. Nevertheless, perhaps the 
highest service ever rendered by this body was in devising and 
adopting a method of relief, in the beginning of the war, from a 
currency complication of the utmost danger. 

The Board Regulates Currency. — The currency of Illinois and 
much of what was elsewhere issued in the Northwest, being based 
on embarrassing Southern stocks, the most violent fluctuations imme- 
diately deranged finance and indirectly disordered all criteria of 
price. The mischief was extreme. Lists of banks with their rates 
of discount were hardly staple for a day through, and, by reason of 
causes, which will occur on reflection, at such a time, the railroads 
had one list and the bankers another, a complication which perfected 
the confusion. It may be imagined from the fact that when gold 
exchange on New York was at half of one per cent., currency 
exchange was as high as fifty per cent, on " long list " currency, 
that is, notes of banks known to be implicated in depreciating 
stocks ; and even fluctuating between 7 and 10 for " short list," 
which enbraced only the best assured banks. 

Under these circumstances, the Board assembled the country and 
city bankers and business men not members, and upon a meeting 
and discussion, a measure, previously projected, was brought for- 
ward, and, after long and able discussion, adopted. It was, in effect, 
an arbitrary list, as equitable and well informed as possible, of the 
rates at which the notes of banks would be taken, and was exhaustive 
of all circulating in the vicinity. The operation of the principle was 
similar to the operation of the legal tender law of the United States, 
though having no compulsory force. The principle was, doubtless, 
that an agreed value, even if false, is better than a real value that is 
indefinite, in an article used as a measure of other values. 

The effect was immediate and admirable, especially if regard be 
had to the measureless distress averted, rather than to what was 
sensibly relieved. Consistently with this measure, in the discussion 
of which Messrs. W. B. Ogden, Wirt Dexter, John C. Haines, Ste- 
phen Clary, and N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts, participated, the 
Board of Trade also recommended the adoption of a uniform 
national currency, and that it be made a legal tender by statute of 
the United States; and on the other hand, strenuously remonstrated 



CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 159 

against an act, already passed by the Legislature of Illinois, for the 
establishment of a system of banking on a specie basis. 

The Board also seized the occasion of Canada's semi-hostile at- 
titude to urge the General Government, on grounds of military 
defence, to open a ship canal from the lakes to the rivers. This 
measure for a time made great progress in Congress, the press, and 
elsewhere. A convention was held at Chicago in June, 1863, and 
bills were brought forward in Congress. But the benefactions of 
legislation pursued other than western objects, and the measure was, 
left to private enterprise. 

Chamber of Commerce. — The Board was now so numerous that its 
rooms could not fully accommodate the body. The idea of erecting 
their own building had been broached in 1853, and in a moment of 
enthusiasm, an engagement was countenanced for the erection of 
one at a cost of $180,000; but nothing more seems ever to have 
been heard of it. In 1864, suitable steps were 'ken. The Cham- 
ber of Commerce Association, composed chiefly of members of the 
Board of Trade, was formed, with a capital stock of $5 00,000, for the 
object. In three days, $100,000 stock was subscribed for, and the 
rest was soon taken. The ground now occupied was chosen, then 
occupied by the First Baptist Church ; and, at an outlay for ground 
and building of $490,000, the edifice which stood till the Fire, was 
erected, and leased to the Board for ninety-nine years, at a rental of 
$20,000 per annum, the most of which came from sub-tenants occu- 
pying offices in the building. 

The new building was inaugurated with due ceremony on the 30th 
of August, 1865, and the three succeeding days. The first day was 
occupied with addresses by prominent members and distinguished 
strangers. In the evening of the second day, a grand banquet was 
given in Exchange Hall ; and on the night of the third day, a grand 
ball, attended by large numbers from the eastern and western 
cities. The festivities are well remembered as the most exultant 
— and. withal, somewhat excessively convivial — in the history of 
the city. 

The New Chamber of Commerce. — The splendid building which 
was erected in 1872 to replace the one destroyed by the fire occupies 
the old site, southeast corner of Washington and LaSalle streets. It 
is a temple of commerce which, whether with respect to the utility 
of structures adapted to the ministrations of commercial grace, or as 
a beautiful symbol of Chicago in her character as a grain gatherer and 



i6o 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



a hog killer, is a real embellishment and a real honor to the place. 
It was practically completed within one year after the great fire, oc- 
cupying the site, but greatly surpassing in perfection of appointments 
and in elegance, the former structure. It is claimed, indeed, to sur- 
pass any similar structure on the continent. It extends 93 feet on 
Washington street and 181^ on LaSalle street, Calhoun place divid- 




New Chamber of Commerce. 



ing it from adjacent buildings on the south and Exchange place on the 
east. The basement floor is seven inches above the sidewalk, that 
story being occupied mostly by banks, for which it affords most com- 
modious and elegant offices. 

The building is of Buena Vista sandstone, a material which for 
beauty and durability has come to be rated at the maximum. The 
cost, not including the ground, was $325,000 and the same sum in 
recent years has seldom been paid for an edifice so excellent in 



CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. l6l 

design, material and finish. Every office in the first and second 
stories is provided with a burglar-and-fire-proof vault. 

The great Exchange Hall is 142 feet in length by 87 feet in width, 
with a ceiling 45 feet high — this entire space without pillar, support 
or other obstruction. On the south, a gallery for visitors projects 
from the wall 20 feet above the floor, from which the stranger may 
contemplate the struggle during 'change hours with philosophical 
immunity and unobstructed vision. On the north, the rostrum of 
the president discloses an elaborate and withal rather excessive eleg- 
ance of design. The brilliant frescoes of the ceiling and walls are 
entitled to the indulgence due to that style of art when dealing in 
the human figure. They have been generally and justly commended. 
' On either side of the rostrum is an oil painting of large size, repre- 
senting allegorically the city's great calamity. On the right is repre- 
sented the fiend of destruction passing over the doomed city, with 
lighted torch, scattering and communicating flame to everything within 
her pathway. On the left is seen the angel of mercy, guiding two 
cherubs laden with the contributions of charity to succor and relieve 
the distressed and needy of the smitten populace ; while at her feet, 
the ruins, smoking and tottering, forcibly recall the never to be for- 
gotten desolation and its attendant manifestations of the noblest im- 
pulses of humanity, as displayed in the day of our pressing need." 

In each corner of the hall are what may be called the distributed 
nervous centers of dry organism of business — telegraph stands, with 
communications all over the world, synchronizing the operations 
of the body at any moment with those of others in Europe and 
America ; receiving orders, reporting current transactions, making or 
responding to timely inquiries, etc. 

The offices of the Board of Trade are fixed in the south and west 
sides of the building, consisting of a general business office, secretary's 
office, library, etc. The general business office is rather a vault than 
an apartment, being fire-proof to the utmost attainment of human 
cunning, for the preservation of archives, documents, books and other 
valuables. In the northeast corner a well- lighted and ventilated 
reading room, a wash room, coat room, and other conveniences are 
provided. Besides these offices and apartments are the rooms for 
the Directors of the Board of Trade, opposite to which are the various 
committee rooms for that body. 

The furniture throughout is elegant, the wood finish being walnut 
and ash ; all the principal doors glass, with costly and ornate ara- 
11 



162 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

besques and devices. The staircases are solid mahogany, with mas- 
sive newel posts of fancy woods, surmounted with bronze figures. 

This building is the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, built and 
owned by the Chamber of Commerce Association, an incorporated 
body distinct from the Board of Trade. The latter has a lease for 
nearly a century on so much of this building as it occupies, and is 
the proprietor of a yearly increasing proportion of the stock. 

The Board has ever since been recognized as the principal organ 
of public opinion at Chicago on most of the subjects which have 
engaged public attention. 



CHICAGO CHARACTERISTICS. 

C 

It Requires Moral Courage to Say It, but Modesty is One of the Chief — Conserva- 
tism of the Chicago Public — Why Ring Rule is Less Practicable than in New 
York and Other Great Cities — Faults of the Chicago Press and Society — 
Frankness a Ruling Trait of the Genuine Chicagoan — Some of His Personal 
Habits — The Rising Generation — And an Outsider's Remark Concerning the 
"Best Enterprise of the Age." 

THE reader is not surprised to bear that character, especially, as 
the attribute of collective numbers, depends more upon con- 
ditions than upon lineage. Such is the drift of all recent historical 
analysis, and of scientific generalization. It is not questioned that the 
character which goes under the name of " Californian " is a real, though 
as yet inchoate type, clearly distinct from the " Buckskin " of the 
colonial day, the "Tuckyho " of the Crockett model, the " Ranger " 
of the southwest, the " Hoosier," or the "Buckeye," — all forms of 
the American pioneer. But the American of the Pacific slope is so 
far from getting his character by inheritance that in most cases he 
was an adult before he acquired its first rudiment. Yet, with 
remarkable uniformity, adventurers from any European society, from 
New England or from Carolina, all alike and quickly respond to 
the powerful local conditions, natural and conventional, to which all 
comers are subjected in transmontane mining regions. Undoubtedly 
this type of character would be still more definite and emphatic had 
.the common proportion of women and children from the first par- 
ticipated its influences, and intensified their personal impressions. 
Therefore, the comparatively recent rise of Chicago is no argument 
against the assertion that her people have a marked, distinctive, and 
definite character, of which her natives are heirs as a Scotchman is 
heir to cunning, or an Irishman to wit. It is not a question of time, 
but of circumstances; and to these, at least in their singularity, must 
be allowed the utmost degree of efficiency in the case of Chicago. 
Chicago Not Boastful. — The reputation of Chicago is flattering ; 



T64 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

yet that species of public spirit which remains dissatisfied without a 
right to exult upon demonstrable merit would be displeased with 
most of the praise; not because there is too much, but because it is 
misapplied in great degree. Chicago is applauded for the boldness 
of its enterprise, and excused for the excess of its pretensions. It is 
treated as a heady youth, good at heart, but a little out of his senses 
with thinking of what great things he has done ; who will get soberer 
as he gets older. This notion is natural, because it is the simplest 
figure which could engage the imagination of a public always genial 
to success. But it is quite gratuitous ; Chicago is perfectly sober. 
True, if, instead of four hundred thousand individuals, personified 
Chicago were an actual being, the work done and the boasting heard 
would both have to be reconciled in the one person. But in fact, 
boastful Chicago is' a different being — a being who is loud because 
the real Chicago is quiescent. 

Of this there are two kinds of evidence, viz. : (i) It must have 
been observed that there is a sportive and playful vein of extrava- 
gance always found in public boastings, whether in the local press or 
through other channels, when issuing from Chicago. This species 
of unassuming banter is too familiar in personal manifestation to be 
classed with the settled complacency of self-admiration, or the joke- 
less intolerance of swaggering egotism. Philadelphia studies, looks 
in the stately circles of the Fifth Ward, and coolly announces the con- 
clusions to which the world has come about a matter. New York, 
in the unaffected sobriety of fixed habit, discourses of the " provin- 
cial towns " of the Continent, without discrimination whether they 
number a thousand or five hundred thousand people ; and Boston, 
with the confidence of a doting grandmother, chides Cincinnati, St. 
Louis, or Chicago, as if they were engaged, about stick horses or sugar- 
plums. Thus is boasting exemplified when inspired by real conceit. 
(2) If boasting were a serious characteristic at Chicago, it is certain 
that somebody would make a systematic business of it — somebody, 
we mean, who would recognize it as a public object, and, as such, 
subserve it, for his own interest, with an elaborate, exhaustive, and 
ingenious array of everything that could be gathered to flatter the 
the pride of Chicago citizens, by an artful appeal to the deliberate 
judgment of the world. But on the contrary, beyond the practical 
needs of men in their business, and a meagre collection of historical 
particulars, the comparative indifference of Chicago to her own real 
glory has made the researches of the historical student a difficult 



CHICAGO CHARACTERISTICS. 165 

and, hitherto, thankless task. In Boston, the assiduity of a lifetime 
would not be considered wasted, if at length rewarded by discover- 
ing indubitably the color of Miles Standish's feather ; Dut in Chicago, 
the precise date of the first telegraphic communication lies in the 
conflicting recollections of old citizens. 

In brief, we think it may be candidly assumed that, as a people, 
Chicagoans are not self-conceited, and that the voluble swagger and 
vulgar brag which Eastern people are at so much pains to excuse is 
the harmless practice of an inconsiderable proportion of the inhab- 
itants of the Lakeside city. 

Ring Rule Impracticable in Chicago. — Surprising as the assertion 
may be to many, we are not quite the first to say that Chicagoans 
are not an impulsive people. The quantity of enthusiasm in the 
prevalent sense is not a characteristic, and the frantic fluctuation of 
public sentiment which deform Boston annals, and keep New York 
on the brink of violence from year to year, are actually without ana- 
logue in Chicago. The mortifying dependence of the public peace 
upon the conduct of a few individuals in community is here un- 
known. The spectacle of a bold aspirant, whether in politics or any 
other of the competitions of ambition, in high social ranks, domina- 
ting his equals, and through them, the mass, by means of bands of 
hired bullies from the very bottom of degradation, can be known to 
Chicagoans only by hearsay. Such alliances are swiftly disgraceful, 
and the class from whom the bludgeon, billy, or unprincipled muscle 
can be recruited for hire would offer their wicked services to no per- 
son who aspires to public influence or social consideration. The 
conservative ballast of Chicago is indisputably stable and sound. 
Were a low ignoramus to be brought to the bench of justice in Chi- 
cago by a successful combination of corporate intrigue and black- 
guard intimidation, it is certain that this sentiment would constrain 
him to resign his office. The meanest members of the bar would 
refuse to practice before him, open contempt of his authority could 
be punished only at the risk of a dangerous applause of contumacy, 
and, above all, the press would be impelled to unceasing and unspar- 
ing censure. No person connected with such an attempt could 
escape irretrievable disgrace. 

Frankness is eminently a Chicago characteristic. Cooperative 
fraud is irksome and unwieldy among a people who are habitually 
open and unreserved in their expressions and manners. The elabo- 
rate and complexing craft of the older cities is an unmanageable 



l66 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

thing in Chicago, where if a man is a scoundrel, he can hope for few 
with whom to divide the burden of concealing it. Many might be 
willing but are not able. Intrigue and craft are rife enough, but they 
cannot countervail habitual openness of manners far enough to 
become formidable in safe secrecy. From this trait results several 
interesting consequences : 

Everything is Public. — One is that from the daily press to the cas- 
ual colloquies of street-car passengers, everything that happens is 
published. People have so little reserve about their own affairs that 
only slight traces exist of that anxious care with which delicate per- 
sonal matters, and those involving reputable or distinguished persons, 
have been guarded from publicity. The worst of Chicago may be 
seen or read of any day, and so strangely excessive is this contempt 
of concealment, that Chicago is reputed a remarkably wicked place, 
with all the statistics of the subject distinctly in her favor ! Whether 
the membership of churches, or of Sunday schools, the number of 
arrests in a given period, the proportion of convicts, the catalogue of 
crimes and misdemeanors, the number of foundlings, the percentage 
of divorces to marriages, the particulars of houses of ill repute or of 
gambling, or in fact, in any line of inquiry which may be adopted, it 
is a fact that the comparison is honorably in favor of Chicago, when- 
made with either of the Eastern cities, notably with Boston. 

Traits of the Native Chicagoan. — The native of Chicago is not 
the lean, sad, intense, subjective Yankee, nor. the dilatory, fat, demon- 
strative dullard of the Susquehanna or the Hudson valley ; but he is 
always florid, plethoric, laborious, well-fed, jolly and complacent. 
A driving worker in daylight, a good sleeper of nights ; open, loqua- 
cious, communicative, generous, gregarious. He loves self-reliance 
as the Irishman loved solitude, i. e., with his crony or his sweetheart. 
He is prone to do things in partnership, and loves to promote his par- 
ticular trade, however small, by a show of promoting the city at large. 
If even he cannot " see it," he is unwilling to have the fact suspected; 
for the honor of commercially glorifying the city is something in 
which the humblest Chicagoan desires to have a share. Not in pro- 
lix disquisition and droning precept, but in practical habit of thought 
and work, he comprehends division of labor, mutual dependence and 
cooperation of effort. Whatever he has to do, from the invention of 
a way to market the produce without " money to move the crops," 
to the institution of an alley laundry, he must first try the expediency 
of the idea by framing it into a cooperative plan. If it will not hold 



HABITS OF THE CHICAGOAN. l6j 

water on the joint stock principle, he accepts that proof of its un- 
soundness and invents something else that will. Let this propen- 
sity stand on its own exalted footing. It has had an illustrious test. 
It is this, brought to settled habit long before the Great Fire, which 
accounts for the possibility of the following fact, viz. : that a visitor 
to Chicago now who had no knowledge of the place but the complete sta- 
tistics of trade for 1870-7 1, and 72, would refuse to believe that a confla- 
gration during that period had destroyed most of the business part of the 
city. 

His Habits. — The genuine Chicagoan dines at noon, whether he is 
a laborer or a banker, and eats three hearty meals a day; but not to 
collide with eastern ways too directly, he calls his supper " dinner " 
and his dinner " lunch." The latter, if possible, he takes at a public 
house, during a period of ten minutes. He invariably wears a 
moustache, generally shaves his chin, gloves his hands only on dress 
occasions, keeps the sidewalk in business hours, unless to ride a mile, 
owns his horse and buggy for other times, if his income at all exceeds 
his subsistence ; is an irreclaimable literary client of the " Times," or 
else of the " Tribune; " will forgive anything but diluted affectation; 
values his priest for his parochial energy and success; will apologize 
for profanity in his presence by swearing that he had never been so 
provoked in his life ; and either expressly or tacitly connects with all 
manner of his speech an indication whether or not he " means busi- 
ness." 

The Juvenile Chicagoan. — Children of Chicago compare with those 
of eastern cities almost as health contrasts with disease. A pale 
child is hardly ever seen ; and the fact that at the schools and other 
assemblages of children the thin-legged, wax-cheeked, precocious- 
eyed child, so sadly suggestive to thoughtful men who have read 
the statistics of early mortality, of diminishing fecundity, and of 
general degeneracy, and the startling generalizations which have been 
built upon them, is seldom seen, makes it a refreshing spectacle to 
pass a public schoolhouse at noon, or to stand near a church in Chi- 
cago when the Sunday scholars pass out. No pains of the statisti- 
cian, nor any reasoning of the sociologist, can take from or add to 
the simple but powerful fact of the general look of the people, and 
especially the children, in a question of health of a city, moral and 
material. The infirm man, woman or child is not the inevitable in- 
cident of every assemblage of half a dozen in Chicago as in New 



i68 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



York. But in all Chicago there is not one regular ' ; tenement house 
nor will there ever be one. 

In a word, the native inhabitants of Chicago are obviously a rich- 
blooded, strong-nerved, large-brained race, and taking children under 
puberty as the standard, their looks proclaim them superior to the 
average American. But taking into account the hypothetical influ- 
ence of their actual history, and all their demonstrated characteris- 
tics, it may be said they give the surest of all signs of future great- 
ness, viz. : a visible ascendancy of human nature, which. is universal 
and everlasting, over human character, which is secular, local or 
conventional. Such a people are necessarily practical, since the 
executive faculty under such conditions is too importunate for work 
to allow attention to what is not visibly practicable. It is upon such 
views, perhaps, that the opinion has been expressed by a stranger, 
that the very best enterprise of the world is seated at Chicago. 



THE FUTURE OF CHICAGO. 

C 

A Deliberative and Analytical Consideration of the Subject — The Cause of Chi- 
cago's Existence — It Was Not Pioneer Enterprise — She Grew in Spite of the 
Lack of That — Chicago Harmoniously Developed — Her Trade Depends No 
Longer on a Few Commodities — Wonderful Strengthening of Weak Parts — 
Cities Grow Much Faster than Ever Before, and Why — American Examples 
to this Effect — The Rule Applies with Double Force to Chicago — The Cot- 
ton and Precious Metal Trades — The Transcontinental Traffic — Will it 
Chiefly Come This Way ? — Chicago Character as an Element of Her Future 
Destiny. 

WE find here in the middle of the continent a large city, and the 
simplest forms in which it excites our curiosity are for what 
it consists of, whence it arose, and whither it tends? 

The fact is familiar that the greatest grain mart of the world is at 
Chicago ; likewise, that no place on the globe receives so much live 
stock to be converted into meat. The lake marine, the merchandise 
trade and the manufactures of the place are treated as but inciden- 
tal and subordinate. But the facts are far different. If the sources 
of the people's subsistence be the criterion, statistics elsewhere 
exhibited in this volume show, surprising as the result may be even 
to Chicago herself, that manufacturing supports half the inhabitants,, 
not including ordinary shop industry. It is, then, a manufacturing 
city rather than a grain, a provision, or even a mercantile place. 

A Broad Foundation. — But likewise our figures upon the jobbing 
trade of Chicago show that it greatly exceeds, on the criterion of 
value, either of the branches of the great produce or shipping trade. 
But beyond the mere proportions of different branches of trade, the 
far greater question is, what are the tendencies ? The answer is, the 
tendency of the receipts of hogs and of grain is an early culmi- 
nation, while the tendency both of merchandising and of manufac- 
turing is to indefinite expansion. The reflective reader has already 
discerned the most appropriate corollary for these facts, viz, : Chi- 



170 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

cago development strikingly exemplifies the law of progress from the 
simple to the complex ; and from diversity back to unity, through 
integration ; the greatness of no city is assured and permanent until 
its trade and industry have all the diversity that belongs to its age 
and country, though a single staple may serve to inaugurate its 
growth. The advance of Chicago towards that diversity is demon- 
strated to be at a rate exceeding, in the illustrative elements of mer- 
chandise and manufacturing, any other large city, American or for- 
eign. We must, therefore, expect at an early day that pork and 
grain will be relatively inconsiderable in the vast future aggregates 
of Chicago business, notwithstanding we have no reason to expect 
any year of the future to bring less pork and grain than the present 
year, if as little. 

The Cotton Tirade Coming. — In the meantime, it is not impossible 
that the greatest single staple in the world may find its way to Chi- 
cago instead of New York, viz. : the cotton of the Southern States. 
Such an event would enhance Chicago as much as a gift of capital 
equal to the public debt of the United States. Nevertheless, should the 
entire produce trade dwindle to a petty interest, it could arrest Chi-, 
cago development only by happening too soon, or if not, then too sud- 
denly; for Chicago is hereafter to prosper as the Merchant and the 
Artisan of the Great West, and not as its mere factor, broker and 
.commission agent, as heretofore. In all the fullness of the metaphor, 
^therefore, Chicago is to expand. 

But literally, also, that city is to expand ; and we think it worthy 
express notice that no other large city is so perfectly conformed to 
•the modern urban idea. But before attempting to present its future, 
let us look back a moment. 

The Cause of Chicago. — What built Chicago? Let us answer, a 
junction of Eastern means and Western opportunity. The East had 
an excess of emprise and capital which as naturally pushed West, 
on lines of latitude, as water runs down hill. Whatever be the phi- 
losophy of it, such is the induction of all experience. 

But what made the opportunity ? We answer, the simple fact that 
the district of country within two hundred and fifty miles of Chicago 
filled up with settlers. The extent, character and productive capac- 
ity of that comparatively small district adequately account for Chi- 
cago if we contemplate Lake Michigan as a stream, with its mouth 
in free communication with a vast system of navigation ; its head in 
the very middle of that district, and Chicago at that head. Given 






WHAT THE PIONEERS DID N T KNOW. 171 

thus much, and in addition what would have been the same had 
there never been a Chicago — for example, railroads, — and Chicago 
became inevitable. 

Greatness Thrust Upon Her. — The case is altogether peculiar. 
There was no local aspiration. Chicago was a large business focus 
before enterprise was a local characteristic. In the history of no 
other emporium of business do we find anything more marvellous 
than the historical fact, that Chicago grew great without ambition ; 
not from humility, but from the inveterate hesitation of petty ideas. 
How strangely this contrasts with the prevalent but demonstrably 
groundless boast of a locally inherent self-making spirit. Never was 
a great city less its own architect ; never an established and splendid 
spirit of enterprise, such as now reigns in Chicago, a more purely ac- 
quired excellence. 

A Pozan for our Pioneers. — There is no doubt that the original 
inhabitants of Chicago were among the least enterprising in America, 
and the cause is simple but sufficient, viz. : the insuperably repulsive 
site for the city. An extraordinary prescience would have been 
requisite to realize how whole square miles of territory could be 
profitably lifted out of the mud. St, Louis, Quincy, Milwaukee, St. 
Paul, Dubuque, Keokuk, Indianapolis, Toledo, and a hundred west- 
ern cities and villages demonstrated their enterprise — cheerfully 
submitting to municipal taxation, or withdrawing capital from their 
respective lines of trade for the advantages of improved communica- 
tion ; but as a municipality, Chicago never invested a dollar in a 
railroad. Exceptional citizens struggled for years against the sense- 
less intolerance of the rest, in the attempt to get a railroad as far as 
Freeport. The merchants of Baltimore, as early as 1828, had appre- 
ciated even the then collossal enterprise of a railroad to the Ohio 
river, while those of Chicago, as late as 1851, with despicable stupid- 
ity, were grieving over the prospect of having their trade scattered 
along a line of country shops for fifty miles or more, in consequence 
of the opening of railroad access for their own customers ! Grain 
was flowing in by millions of bushels a year, while dealers yet re- 
tained the habit of exploring the town, half bushel in hand, to hunt 
farmers' wagons for street competition and huckstering dicker. 

The Birth of Confidence. — But these very facts, perhaps, account 
for the uncommon solidity and breadth of the existing business spirit 
of Chicago. Without the brilliant but unsteady inspiration of spon- 
taneous enterprise, the native Chicagoan passively acquired a mag- 



172 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

nificent business optimism, by the influence and experience in extra- 
ordinary contrast to that of men in general. Greatness was forced 
upon Chicago as a golden subjugation. The inhabitants of past 
days could no better withstand the uncredited but splendid boon of 
eastern railroads, than they could have resisted a pestilence. They 
had to accept it. 

But in such realizations, the younger Chicagoans, in respect to 
public undertakings, are a peculiar people. They have their doubts, 
like other men, about details, but public and general success they 
can doubt only by doubting the integrity of the universe. Now, a 
spirit of enterprise, grounded on actual experience, is exempt from 
the fluctuations of enthusiasm, and is therefore the best in the world. 
But in hardly any other place in the world has there been such an 
experience. 

Creative Power to Spare. — We have said what a very cursory 
analysis of the facts has often shown to others that a comparatively 
small area of tributary country has, with her Eastern connections, 
built Chicago. If regard be had to the now existing and greatly in- 
creasing railway connections with the West and Southwest — after 
every concession which even prejudice could demand, it must still 
be seen how tremendously the increase of tributary area promises in- 
crease of the city. And this brings us to a glance at the future. 

Chicago has Just Begun to Grow. — Our first observation is that 
much needless shame-facedness is indulged by those who reckon the 
future of large prosperous cities of the present day. The most par- 
simonious use of deductions, frequently carries us to figures of un- 
precedented magnitude. For example : London, of late years, 
increases at a compound ratio, which, upon following it up for a few 
generations, startles the calculator. But this hesitation will be found 
to be really more visionary than a modest but rational acquiesence 
in fair analogies ; for the fact is, this is the age of great cities. Al- 
most every great city on the globe is growing ; and the increase of 
the great capitals of Europe — London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, St. 
Petersburg, Madrid ; even Rome — is greater than has ever been 
known before. But this is not all. Mankind are becoming urban. 
It is the vast multiplication of villages, since gunpowder abolished 
walls, which has justified the estimate that ten times as many people 
lead urban lives as did so in antiquity. 

But, on the other hand, improved means of communication has at 
the same time relieved the ancient, and, of older cities, still irreme- 



CITIES OUTSTRIPPING THE COUNTRY. I 73 

diable, crowding. The co-operation of both causes tends to modify 
the distinction between rural and intra-mural life, and certainly war- 
rants the hope, that mankind need not forever alternate between the 
torpor of the country and the madness of the town, but may have 
liberty without solitude and reciprocity without friction. 

This tendency to urban life, and its indisputably prevalent oper- 
ation at this day in all the cities of Europe and America, lodges on 
the objector the onus of proving how any given city comes to be an 
exception. 

Certainly no one would attempt such a proof against Chicago. If 
there is a presumption in favor of the further growth of great cities 
in general, it is a presumption of the highest assurance in the present 
case. 

Figures Confirmatory of the Above Statements. — That the Great 
West is to experience no arrest of development must be assumed 
without hesitation; and that her great cities will develop, at least, 
in proportion, is assured even by analogy with those of the East. 
The following figures touching population at several dates in the 
United States at large, and in the city of New York and suburbs, 
are in point : 

United States. New York, Etc. 

1830.... 13,000,000 225,000 

1840 .... 17,000,000 360,000 

1850. ...23,000,000 654,o00 

I860.... 31,000,000 1,093,000 

1870.. ..38,500,000 1,362,000 

It is seen that the urban population at the site of New York was 
about six times as great in 1870 as in 1830, while the population of 
the country at large was but about two and a half times as great. 
Take New England, where increase was slower : 

New England. Boston. 

1840.... 2,235,000 106,611 

1870---.3,857,000 274,353 

Boston's increase in the thirty years was more than two and a 
half times ; that of New England at large, being little over an addi- 
tion of a half. Taking the State of Pennsylvania for the thirty years 
•ending in 1870, the population little more than doubled, while that 
of Philadelphia nearly trebled. The result was still more significant 
in the County of Alleghany, containing Pittsburgh and its suburbs. 
If, now, we take country adjacent to Chicago, for example, the States 
of Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, and contrast them with Cook County, 



174 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

containing Chicago, and restrict the period to only twenty years, 
we have the result following : 

The States. Cook Co. 

1850... .1,348,000 43,000 

1870.-4,787,000 350,000 

Thus, the rural population's increase was a trifle over three and a 
half times ; that of the urban population in question, more than eight 
times. 

Cumulative Proofs that the Metropolis Grows Much Faster than its 
District. — Similar results are reached by taking the case of Balti- 
more, San Francisco, Cincinnati, St. Louis, or almost any other city, 
though in no instance is the contrast so strong as in that of Chicago. 
The nearest approach is the case of Baltimore, raising the interesting 
reflection that the railroad connections of that city enable her to 
keep up a high rate of increase upon the tribute of remote points, 
even after her neighboring territory has fallen short. This is an earnest 
for Chicago, should all the territory east of Nebraska cease to 
develop, or — a supposition hardly less improbable — carry its trade 
to other cities. 

Precious Metals, Imports, etc. — But other considerations arise which 
cannot but be inspiring. It is no longer a hypothesis that the pre- 
cious ores can be reduced cheaper in Chicago, after the long carriage, 
than in the mines ; the business has now regularly settled itself in 
that city, where, at no distant day, the gold bars, silver and quick- 
silver will first enter the mint or the market. It is, then, as if the 
Golden Gate were at the mouth of Chicago river. In direct impor- 
tation from Europe, it is indisputable, after ample experiment, that 
the only obstacle to an importing trade, limited only by western con- 
sumption of foreign merchandise — practically, unlimited in the 
future — is the very vincible habit of making New York importers 
judges of the market. The trade is not a simple one ; the studious 
and vigilant practice of importing merchants on the seaboard is 
matter of training, and the Chicagoan has had none such. His cor- 
respondents abroad, his representatives in New York or Boston, his 
habitual study of foreign data on the state of the markets and cog- 
nate conditions, are all to acquire. But while time is requisite, it is 
obvious that it cannot be very long time. 

The Asiatic Trade. — With regard to the trans-continental trade, 
the ablest expounders in Europe of the laws of commerce, reluctant 
as they confessedly were, to concede such a thing, have long agreed 



FUTURE OF CHICAGO. 1 75 

that its offing for Europe is destined inevitably to be on the eastern 
shores, and not on the western borders of the vast Asiatic continent; 
they do, indeed, question how long the Suez canal may defer the day 
of its realization by Americans, and they differ in opinion whether 
the Isthmus of Panama or the trans-continental railways of the 
United States are to present the better routes. But that question, 
in the language of the " Mark Lane Express " (English), was virtually 
ended when Americans had actually opened a ten days railroad 
route from ocean to ocean. Should the great inter-continental trade 
of the world reverse its route, it will certainly follow the track across 
the interior for all travel, and most of the valuable freights. When 
is this to be realized ? 

It will not be soon, in the sense of a smaller matter; but if within 
fifty years, will not the time be getting daily shorter, and will not the 
influence of the prospect, thus daily growing more substantial, oper- 
ate with constantly augmenting effect on the local prosperity of 
places on the route ? 

The great primary condition for the accession of this mighty tide 
of commerce, is the attainment of a quantity of commerce that by, 
as it were, overflowing old channels, will release it from habit. But 
the statistics of Dr. Lesseps, and the reasoning of Laboulaye and 
Mill, have familiarized the thinkers of the age with the enormous 
rate at which exchangeable property increases in the world. It is 
not so much a question between routes of trade as a question of 
enough of them from nation to nation. In the event of this great 
trans-continental trade being realized, no serious question has, we 
believe, been made of late years, that its greatest emporium in the 
world would be at Chicago. 

Chicago Character an Important Element in the Calculation. — We 
have elsewhere had something to say of the personal characteristics 
of Chicago people. We may say here that in a question of the prog- 
ress of a people, the criterion is to be found in the amount of their 
latent energy. This, from the nature of the case, is to be hypothet- 
ically estimated. If the latent power of Chicago is at a maximum, 
no thoughtful person will dispute this proposition, viz. : more inge- 
nuity is required to imagine causes which are to prescribe its limit 
than to demonstrate a future of hitherto unknown greatness. But 
what is the fact on this head? With the unimpeachable answer, we 
conclude the topic in hand, viz. : 

A person ignorant of everything connected with Chicago but the 



176 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



statistics of its trade and commerce during the years 1870, 1871 and 
1872, would certainly deny the possibility that during that time a 
conflagration had destroyed most of the business part of the city. 
The immense energy which sustains the prosperity of the place con- 
tinued to sustain it throughout the period ; and yet, from some hith- 
erto undrafted source, came the vast and sudden energy which in 
two years rebuilt the city ! The work is now finished, and this 
mighty power is latent again. But how great is such a reserve of 
force ! 




THE CAPITAL OF THE INTERIOR. 

L 



Further Calculations by a Contributor Concerning the Future Growth of Chicago 
— Based Simply upon the Minimum Expected Development of the Mississippi 
Valley. 

"^HE views which follow are those of Albert H. Walker, Esq., 
X kindly offered for incorporation in this work. We give them 
without alteration, though they do not take into the account all the 
elements which, in the opinion of the editor, enter therein. 

We should remark, in preface to the subjoined, or rather, in sup- 
plement to the preceding chapter, that the population of Chicago, in 
1870, according to the tables of the U. S. census, was 298,977 — an 
enumeration by common consent so moderate, that we have no com- 
punction in at least rounding up the figures to 300,000. In the 
summer of 1871, the school census showed a population of .367,000. 
This we will reject, out of deference to our fellow conservatives, and 
pass to the very careful canvass made in the Spring of 1873, by 
Mr. Richard Edwards, directory publisher. He has 133,600 names 
enrolled in his directory, none of which have been challenged as 
fictitious or duplicate; and upon the basis of this number, arguing 
from his extensive experience in this line, Mr. E. insists that there 
are 465,000 inhabitants in Chicago; but to make up this number, 
Mr. Edwards reckons in, as he ought, the suburban families, whose 
heads have their business in the city proper. 

There are plenty of means of accounting for this wonderful growth, 
and observant Chicagoans readily believe it. Nevertheless, we 
choose to accept it with another grain of conservative salt, and to 
assume that on the 1st day of January, 1873, two and a half years 
from the date of the federal census, the population of Chicago had 
only grown to 400,000, a gain of 100,000 in the period named. 

Now, observe that we do not resort to the trick of percentage — a 
very untrustworthy method — since it is a less feat for a small town 
12 



178 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

to grow twenty-five, fifty, or one thousand per cent., than for a great 
city to do the same. We find an absolute addition to the city's 
population, for the reasons named before, of 100,000 souls, in two 
and one-half years, and we think we have convinced the reader that 
this rate (not ratio) will be kept up during the next decade. From 
June 30th, 1870 to January 1st, 1884, will be twelve and one-half 
years, or five periods of two and one-half years. Very well, then : 
what will be the contribution of the country to the city, added to the 
• city's own recruiting power by births, in five periods, each of which 
witnesses a growth of 100,000 souls? Why, 500,000, making an 
aggregate population, ten years from next January 1st, of 800,000. 

THE FUTURE OF CHICAGO. 

BY ALBERT H. WALKER. 

About the prospective growth of our city, there is still great diversity of opinion. 
One class, basing their views rather upon faith than upon any well-grounded basis 
of calculation, hold the wildest expectations ; while another class, ever ready to re- 
press hope and forecast failure, see little in our circumstances upon which to found 
any certain promise of greatness. It is to consider the elements that go to make 
increase of population and wealth, and to approximately measure the bearing of 
those elements upon the question of our future, that this article is written. 

Two branches of human employment, together with the collateral business of 
each, constitute the basis of a modern city. They are Manufactures and Commerce. 
In proportion as one or both of these are thriving, in that proportion does the city 
prosper. Chicago has heretofore been chiefly a commercial city, engaged in exchang- 
ing the wheat, p.ork, wool, beef, corn and other products of the West for the cloth, 
tea, sugar, leather, coffee, stoves and other products of the East and of the Old 
World. 

As the West has grown, the business has grown with it, and with it has grown 
the prosperity of the' city. All understand what the growth has been, and it is our 
pi-esent object to inquire how the business we have named, and other business we 
are to consider, taken in connection with the increase of the whole Northwest, is to 
affect that growth in the future. 

The country tributary to Chicago consists chiefly of the States of Illinois, Iowa, 
Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska, and the territories of Dacotah, Wyoming and 
Montana. In all this region Chicago has no rival, and can have none. Other cities 
will grow and prosper at different points, but there are none who doubt that Chicago 
is, and is to be in all the future, the metropolis of this our Northwest. Let us, 
therefore, consider what are the elements of the prosperity of this vast country, and 
by them measure the future of the city. 

The States and Territories we have named contain an area of over 700,000 square 
miles — an extent larger than all those countries combined which we call the Con- 
tinet of Europe, viz. : France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland 
and Denmark. Those countries, however, contain a population of 128,000,000 



AVERAGE YEARLY GROWTH OF THE NORTHWEST. 1 79 

people, while the Northwest has only a little over 5,000,000. Comparison shows, 
nevertheless, that in point of natural ability to support a large population, the North- 
west exceeds the nations to which we have referred. The average fertility of our 
soil is greater. We have a vastly greater variety and value of mineral wealth, and 
our land is unexhausted by centuries of kingly misrule. Nor does the Northwest 
lack in beauty and grandeur more than in material bounty. Its rivers and lakes are 
larger and longer, and more useful for commerce, than any other in the world. Its 
mountains are no less grand than the Alps ; while the great National Park in Wy- 
oming contains more natural wonder^ in its 3,000 square miles than any other equal' 
surface of the globe can boast. 

We may add to these also the even greater advantages of our free government 
an d liberal laws, which give the poorest and humblest equal rights as to acquisition 
of property with the highest of the land ; and taking into account all these elements 
of attractiveness to the peoples of the world, none can doubt that it lies in the not 
distant future to see the Northwest contain a population of 50, 000, 000 souls. When 
we consider that even then the countries we have named, with less area and fewer 
advantages, now have a population more than two and one-half times greater than 
this, the moderation of our estimate is manifest. 

We now inquire when, in view of these facts, and the rate of our increase in the 
past, and a fair calculation of the future, these 50,000,000 of people will be ours. 

We find from the census reports that when we make a due allowance for the dimi- 
nution of the increase of population on account of the late war, that the average 
ratio of increase of our population for each decade in the past has been one-fourth 
less than for the preceding decade. That is, if in one decade the increase was 200 
per cent., in the next it would be 150 per cent. If the census should show 50,000 
people at one time, and should in the ten years increase 200 per cent., it would of 
course show 150,000 at the next taking, and would for the next decade increase 150 
per cent., and therefore show 375,000 at the next enumeration. Substantially this 
increase took place in the Northwest during the two decades between 1820 and 1840, 
though the growth during those years was somewhat larger than that in the illus- 
tration we have used. The average, however, during the entire history of the North- 
west has been as stated. Continuing this ratio into the future would give us an 
increase of 60 per cent, during the present decade, 45 per cent, during the next, 33^ 
per cent, for the last decade in the century, 25 and 5-i6ths per cent, for the first 
decade in the next century, and about 19 per cent, only in the decade ending with 
1920. A careful estimate, however, based upon the statistics of births and deaths, 
gives 20 per cent, as the rate at which our population increases per decade without 
any accessions from outside of our own territory. It is certain, however, that im- 
migi-ation into our Northwest will not cease as soon as 1910, and it therefore follows 
that 25 per cent, is a greater diminution of ratio of increase than a careful prognos- 
tication of the future will justify. To be wholly within bounds, we will only reduce 
this figure to 20 per cent., and base our calculation of the future upon that rate, 
instead of the 25 per cent, which has heretofore been the rule, as we have seen. 

Applying this ratio of 20 per cent., which we have shown to be a fair one, we find 
that it gives the Northwest a population of nearly nine millions in 1880, somewhat 
over thirteen millions in 1890, nearly nineteen millions in 1900, and over thirty 
millions in 1920. If we were to continue to apply the same rule after 1920, it would, 



180 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

until 1930, give us exactly the same increase that we derive from the excess of births 
over deaths ; after which it would give us a much smaller increase than we derive 
from that source alone. We will therefore allow, for the purpose of this calcula- 
tion, that the immigration and emigration of the Northwest will balance each other 
after 1920, and base our estimate of its subsequent growth upon the natural increase 
of population alone. In doing so we find that our objective point of fifty millions 
will be reached two or three years before the middle of the next century, or in 
seventy-five years from to-day. 

The 4,000,000 of the whole country at the close of the revolution has increased 
in less than a hundred years to 40,000,000. Can we, therefore, possibly be wrong 
in predicting that the 5,000,000 and more the Northwest now contains, will with 
the greater advantages possessed by it over the average of the United States, be 
increased to 50,000,000 in a considerably shorter time. When we consider that, as 
never before, the eyes of the world are upon this land, and that emigration from 
foreign countries is so rapidly increasing as to alarm the potentates of Europe, and 
that it is more than probable that during the coming century many of the heavy 
manufactories of England will be transferred from their exhausted coal and iron 
fields to our exhaustless ones, no thoughtful man can doubt that our calculation is 
within, rather than beyond the truth. 

Our subject now leads us to inquire what bearing and effect this rate of increase 
in the population of the Northwest will have upon the growth of its metropolis. 
The people living in Chicago in 1870 were 5^ per cent, of the population of the 
States and Territories we have named. We shall now attempt to show that we 
may depend upon the city enjoying in the future a growth, at least, as rapid as that 
of the country upon which it depends for support. The consumption of the North- 
west will doubtless substantially keep pace with the increase of its people. It 
will, however, be more likely to exceed than to fall below it, because as the country 
grows older the average wealth of the people increases, and with the increase of 
wealth increases the ability and inclination of the people to buy and to consume- 
On the other hand, the productions of the Northwest per capita will not diminish, 
because of the unlimited material, both agricultural and mineral, upon which we 
have to work. There is one element, however, that will deter Chicago from reap- 
ing the proportional benefit in the exchanging of the things produced for the thing 
consumed that she heretofore has. Many of the things consumed that have hereto- 
fore been produced only in the East, and even in Europe, will soon be manufac- 
tured in various parts of the West, and being often in direct contact with the con- 
sumer will not require the intervention of a great commercial city for their 
exchange. 

Fully balancing this, however, is the consideration that as the wants of the 
Northwest increase in magnitude, productions of the Old World that have hereto- 
fore been obtained through the medium of Eastern cities, will be handled with 
equal facility and cheapness in Chicago, thus causing a continual growth, and more 
than a proportionate one, in an element of commerce to which we are entitled, but 
which we have heretofore largely lost. We hold, therefore, on the whole, that the 
exchanges of the Northwest made through its metropolis, will increase, at least, as 
rapidly as its population does, and as those exchanges increase, so also will increase 
the number of the people required to effect them. Therefore, as a commercial city,. 
Chicago will keep full pace with the country tributary to it. 



WHEN WILL CHICAGO REACH X MILLION? l8l 

The manufactures of Chicago are still in their infancy. Upon them we can make 
no approximate calculation for want of data in the past. We know, however, 
that Illinois and Iowa contain some of the most inexhaustable coal measures in the 
world, and that the shores of Lake Superior contain inexhaustless stores of iron 
and copper. Who can doubt that the iron and the copper will meet their counter- 
part, the coal, at the harbor of Chicago, and that vast mills for the various manufac- 
ture of those metals will here spring up to send their products forth over our 
matchless railroad system to every part of the Northwest, and, indeed, of the whole 
country ? In view then of the fact that we have no reason to expect any diminu- 
tion in the increase of Chicago as a "Commercial city, when compared with the in- 
crease of the Northwest, and that we have abundant reason to expect its great pro- 
portionate increase of manufacturers, we are surely safe in assuming that the pro- 
portion of 5 ^ per cent, she now bears to the whole will, at least, continue to be sus- 
tained. We may, therefore, expect a population of somewhat over a million souls 
by the beginning of the next century, and a proportionate growth thereafter, and 
risk nothing in saying that the child is now living who will not die until Chicago 
numbers among her people more than three millions of the children of men, and 
has become the great interior city of a nation more populous than China, and far 
more powerful and wealthy than all the British Empire. To this certain and 
splendid future, we would direct the thinking of the youth and manhood of our 
time. 



THE LAY OF THE LAND. 



Geography and Topography of Chicago and its Environs — Elevated Sections 
and Their Relative Value — Marked Climatic Advantages of Chicago — 
" Wanted, 400,000 Lots ! " — An Inquiry Into the Household Habits of the 
Average Chicagoan — Interesting Figures from an Official Source — Bogus 
Lots, etc. 

THERE are few persons left in Christendom, of an age consis- 
tent with an understanding of the first rudiments of the 
world's affairs, who have not found out, with a reasonable degree of 
exactness, the location of Chicago, viz., twenty miles from the head 
of Lake Michigan on the west shore of that body of water, etc., etc., 
as described in the initial chapter of this book. The topography of 
the place, as there indicated, was forbidding enough, one would 
think, to deter the rashest settler from selecting Chicago as a site for 
residences, whatever attractions it might have for the trader or the 
manufacturer. The description cited, however, fortunately applies 
only to the district lying along the river and its branches — a dis- 
trict which has already been reclaimed by Commerce from the for- 
bidding condition in which the early settlers found it. 

Nevertheless, Chicago and the district around it is almost as pro- 
verbial for its flatness as the people who live there are for the oppo- 
site quality. Hence, it is but just that it should be here stated that 
the average height of the country for twelve miles around Chicago is 
not less than twenty-five feet above the level of the lake, while many 
points boast an altitude of from one to two hundred feet. Nor are 
there wanting tens of thousands of intelligent householders who 
rather avoid than seek the highest points accessible, satisfied with 
the facilities for drainage which are almost everywhere afforded, and 
preferring to avail themselves of the cooling lake winds in summer, 
and avoid the piercing prairie " zephers " of winter. 

All the Land can be Utilized. — Probably one-tenth of the territory 
to be reached by an hour's ride from Chicago is undesirable — not 



ADVANTAGES OF CHICAGO'S CLIMATE. 183 

to say unavailable — for residence property. But as this is all fur- 
nished with abundant water or rail transportation facilities, and is 
best suited of all for the manufactures which are tending with such 
wonderful momentum toward Chicago, the question comes up, 
whether these lands are not the best of all for investments of over a 
year's duration. 

Healthfulness of Chicago's Location. — The mortuary statistics of 
the United States make Chicago one of the healthiest of the large 
cities. And yet they do not do her justice, since the period covered 
by them includes years when the precautions against disease were 
far less efficacious than they now are. The healthfulness of Chi- 
cago's climate, and especially its superiority in averting pestilence, 
will at once appear to him who considers that the prevailing winds 
of this locality are from the southwest, and that their sweep is unin- 
terrupted by any abrupt elevation. It should be further noted that 
these winds blow in a direction to bear away quickly any malarious 
exhalations from the central portions of the city, where they chiefly 
originate, off over the lake, and not over the residence quarters of 
the city ; also that the east winds which come (and are very welcome) 
almost every day in summer, are from the lake, and so cool as to 
check the development of unwholesome gases. 

Obvious Climatic Advantages. — -While upon the subject of neuter - 
ology and sanitary advantages, we refer with pleasure to a statement by 
so high an authority as Prof. Alex. Winchell, of Michigan University, 
concerning the average summer and winter temperature of the Lake 
Michigan region. This statement was prepared for the " Medical 
Investigator," the leading journal of Homoeopathy ; and, though not 
written in the interest of Chicago, tells decidedly in its favor. In 
that paper it is shown that the summer isotherm of Chicago passes 
through a point some hundred and fifty miles above St. Paul, on the 
Mississippi river; while the winter isotherm corresponding to Chi- 
cago's crosses the same river at a point fifty miles below Davenport) 
Iowa. That is to say, while the mean summer temperature of Chi- 
cago ascends no higher than that (72 ) of all northern Wisconsin, 
and not so high as that of St. Paul, the mean winter temperature 
sinks no lower than that of cities in the Mississippi valley, much far- 
ther south than Chicago. It is also to be noted that during the 
month taken by Prof. Winchell for his calculation (July) the propor- 
tion of lake winds to land winds in Chicago is as 1.27 to 1 ; and to 
this circumstance we attribute the fact that Chicago is not only much 



184 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

less depleted in summer than other American cities, but is actually- 
attracting many people from St. Louis and other points to the south- 
ward to spend the summer months. 

Another Class, Better Than Tourists, Attracted.— Chicago does not, 
however, aspire to notoriety as a summer resort. She has suburbs 
along the high bluffs of the lake shore at the north which have such 
aspirations, and the reader can easily see that those aspirations are 
likely to be gratified. 

There is not a place on Lake Michigan where the proportion of 
lake breezes to land breezes is greater than at Chicago ; and there is 
not a place off Lake Michigan, and west of the Alleghanies, where 
good facilities for trade combine with so healthy and comfortable a 
summer and winter temperature as Chicago possesses. And this 
consideration is a very practical one, affecting scarcely less than the 
price of food itself the wages at which labor can profitably employ 
itself. Manufacturers who, after visiting St. Louis with reference to 
establishing works there (attracted thither by the pretty romance of 
an " iron mountain," near by), have decided to locate at Chicago, 
have usually cited the more healthful location of Chicago as one of 
the considerations which induced their decision, along with the 
equally cheap coal, the cheaper raw material of all kinds, and the 
vastly better market afforded in Chicago. 

The Lay of the Land. — To return for a moment, to the topography 
of Cook County. The reader is referred to the small but handy map 
published herewith. Commencing at the lake shore, and to the south 
of the city, the territory between the lake shore and the Michigan 
Southern railroad, extending southward to the farther boundary of 
the southernmost park, is among the choicest of suburban property; 
being mostly well elevated, well served with quick railroad commu- 
nication with the city, and situated along the prolongation of the 
finest residence thoroughfares of Chicago. The country along the 
Calumet and around the lake of the same name, is mostly low, with 
occasional rocky bluffs, well clothed with soil and desirable for resi- 
dences. The land south of the Calumet is mostly swampy, and 
hardly worth considering, except with reference to possible manu- 
factures in the future. The junction of the Danville and Illinois 
Central railroads at Dalton, for instance, has been suggested as the 
best sight for a great cotton factory — the facilities for obtaining cot- 
ton and coal being there combined in the happiest degree. The 
town of Thornton has never been operated in much with reference 



TOPOGRAPHY OF COOK COUNTY. 185 

to suburban village enterprises except by swindlers who " ran " the 
somewhat notorious " Park Ridge" subdivision in section 36. 

The territory along the Rock Island road beyond Englewood (to 
which point the city settlement has become nearly continuous,) is 
well adapted to occupation, and is rapidly settling up. Blue Island 
is the present limit of suburban enterprise, and Washington Heights, 
situated on a plateau some 125 feet above the level of the lake, may 
be called the nucleus. (_ 

The west part of the town of Lake and the east part of the town 
of Worth have not been much sought after previous to the season of 
1873 ; but they afford many eligible sites for suburban villages. Aside 
from the district mentioned, the town of Worth, like that of Palos 
and Lyons, with the exception about to be noted, are rather unattract- 
ive ; much of the land being low and difficult of drainage. Border- 
ing on the Desplaines river in the town of Lyons, however, is a strip 
of country well elevated, picturesque and not open to the objection 
of miasma, which has been raised against the Desplaines country 
further up and abreast of the city. The town of Cicero is mostly 
well elevated prairie, draining easily into the South Branch. The 
country to the west of Cicero, on the Northwestern and Burlington 
railways, lies high and well ; that on the latter road, just west of 
Hinsdale, reaching the highest altitude between Lake Michigan and 
the Mississippi. About the same altitude is claimed for points on 
the Chicago & Pacific road, however; the altitude at Roselle, 24 
miles out, being set down at 191 feet, and that of Ontario, 27^ 
miles out, at 231 feet. The surface all along the C. & P. road, west 
of the city limits, is high and rolling. 

Along the Chicago and St. Paul road, and the Wisconsin division 
of the Northwestern road, the topography is in every way favorable 
to rapid settlement, being, for the most part, a beautiful, high rolling 
prairie, abounding in fine farms, broken only by the frequent sub- 
urban villages which already dot the country with neat villages along 
the latter line. 

Passing around farther eastward, the prairie first becomes flatter 
and lower, and then gives way to the sandy but by no means sterile 
ridge which skirts Lake Michigan from the city northward far past 
the limits of Cook County. The shore at Evanston becomes deci- 
dedly high and abrupt, furnishing picturesque sites for villas, ren- 
dered all the more so by the sharp ravines by which the shore is cut. 

Area and Subdivisions. — Now, how much of this territory has been 



l86 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

tampered with by the surveyor and the speculator ? No small por- 
tion, as will appear from the figures of the extract given below from 
a recent report of the County Surveyor. It should be remarked, 
before quoting this report, however, that there are many old subdi- 
visions, relics of stage - coach times, or of some period of railroad or 
speculating mania antecedent to the crash of 1857, and which are 
now practically vacated, though still carried on the county records; 
also that the County of Cook includes a score or more of villages 
which have never been considered in the light of suburbs, but whose 
numerous lots are reckoned in the surveyor's total. 

There are sixteen whole townships, and a very large area in other 
townships — that is, about 800 square miles out of the 932 in the 
county — which have never been speculated in as sites of possible 
suburban villages; and it maybe presumed that of the 74 square 
miles shown by the surveyor's figures to have been subdivided out- 
side of the city limits, not more than 50 square miles of it (including 
the thickly settled region south of the city,) represent lands now oc- 
cupied or for sale in the fifty active suburbs of the city. 

Interesting Official Details. — Says Alexander Wolcott, County Sur- 
veyor (who puts himself under oath for the purpose) : 

1. That the Government survey of Cook County, as appears from a certified, copy 
of the original survey, (the property of this office,) shows the total number of acres 
in Cook County to have been (less fraction) 596,831. 

2. That the total number of acres in Cook County liable to assessment for 1873 
not subdivided into town or city lots (except the property of railroad companies) is 
(less fraction) 524,610. 

3. That the total number of acres of railroad property in Cook County liable to 
assessment for 1873, and not subdivided into town or city lots is (less fraction*) 
1,567. 

4. That the total number of acres (including town and city lots reduced to acres) 
in Cook County, occupied by churches, cemeteries, schools, Poor House farm, Re- 
form School, charitable institutions, Bridewell, engine houses, Illinois Central Rail- 
road, and public grounds, exempt by law from taxation, is (less fraction) 4,665. 

5. That the total number of acres in the City of Chicago, sub-divided into lots 
(not including property exempt by law) is (less fraction) 18,413. 

6. That the total number of acres in the County of Cook, outside of the City of 
Chicago, sub-divided into lots (not including property exempt by law) is (less fraction) 
47,570. 

7. The original number of acres in Cook County was 596,831. 

8. That there are 104,411 lots in the City of Chicago, including 1,630 belonging 
to railroad companies, and excepting those exempt by law (which are included in the 
fourth statement above) and the average number of lots per acre in the City of 
Chicago, is 5.67. 



LOT SWINDLES, ETC. 187 

9. That there are 120,301 lots outside of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, in- 
cluding 222 belonging to railroad companies, and excepting those exempt by law 
(which are included in the fourth statement above), and the average number of lots 
per acre outside the City of Chicago, in Cook County, is 2.52. 

10. That within six miles from the City of Chicago, there are in Cook County, 
94,942 lots. 

11. That over six miles and under twelve miles from the City of Chicago, there 
are in Cook County, 9,731 lots. 

12. That over twelve and under eighteen miles from Chicago, there are in Cook 
County 8,475 l°ts. 

13. That over eighteen miles and under twenty-four miles from Chicago, there are 
in Cook County 6,416 lots. 

14. That over twenty-four miles and under thirty miles from Chicago, there are in 
Cook County 737 lots. 

15. The total number of lots in Cook County, outside the City of Chicago, is 
120,301. 

16. That there are 25,000 lots in Cook County, 25 feet front by 125, that are of 
no more value than they were as acre property, for the reason that they lie under 
water or in low, marshy ground. 

17. That there are over 2,000 lots in Cook County, 7^ feet front, by 40 feet deep, 
with a two-foot alley and a five-foot street. In addition to their diminutive size, 
they lie under Water, about twenty-three miles from the Court House, and six miles 
from any railroad, in section 19, town 37, range 13, a locality where drainage can 
never be successfully accomplished. 

Bogus Lots. — It should be remarked, with reference to the 
"i7thly" of this official, that the lot swindle there referred to 
(perpetrated by one Scott and his accessories, under the name of 
" The Boulevard Addition to Chicago,") is the only downright swin- 
dle of the kind known in Chicago for years. No doubt other dealers 
have nattered themselves that they were cheating their customers 
badly in shoving remote and unpromising lots upon them ; but so 
rapid has been the development of the city and its surroundings, by 
new railroads and otherwise, that the buyers of bad bargains have> 
by holding on, come out gainers in spite of their own stupidity ! 

Household Habits of the Chicago People. — We are about to ask our- 
selves the question, how much land the population of Chicago will 
require during the next ten years, for residence purposes alone ? 
Before doing so, however, let us consider for a moment the regime" 
under which the city of Chicago is developing. It is a regime un- 
known to Eastern cities, except in a moderate degree in Philadel- 
phia — a regime born both of our peculiar topography and the im- 
provements of the present period. 

Chicago has not only many square miles of available building 






l88 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

sites all about her, each as good as the rest (and a little better, if 
you accept the opinions of the neighborhood,) but she has unprece- 
dented facilities for reaching them, viz., a dozen railways, each solic- 
itous to build up a large suburban traffic, and willing, therefore, to 
furnish sufficient accommodations at low fares. The effect of these 
centrifugal forces is, at the start, exemplified along our street-rail- 
ways. Though these afford but slow and uncomfortable transit, they 
have served to scatter the population of Chicago over an area of five 
or six times greater than the same population would occupy in New 
York or Boston, which not only occupy less expansive sites, but 
which were settled, and the living habits of their people largely 
formed, before street-railway facilities had been introduced. 

Tendency Toward the Suburbs. — The same tendency is still fur- 
ther and more conclusively demonstrated by the rapidity. with which 
Chicago workers are now flocking into the suburbs to live. The fact 
is thoroughly established that ninety-nine Chicago families in every 
hundred will go an hour's ride into the country, or toward the coun- 
try, rather than live under or over another family, as the average 
New Yorker or Parisian does. This tendency will be increased in 
future years, rather than diminished ; for we may safely calculate 
upon the new inventions and reform legislation of the day to im- 
prove the means of transit, and cheapen the charges therefor, at least 
as rapidly as the distance necessary to be traveled by the new settler 
becomes greater. 

Wanted : 400,000 Lots. — It is claimed by those who look at this 
subject superficially, that there is already land enough, and more 
than enough, subdivided in the vicinity of Chicago to supply all the 
actual wants of the population of the city and its environs for many 
years to come. Let us see whether this theory will hold water. 

We have seen already that the population of Chicago is an expan- 
sive one, in a literal and horizontal sense, as well as in whatever fig- 
urative senses the reader may choose to apply the term. We have 
seen, also, that the inducements to spread over a large area are in- 
creasing, not merely in Chicago, but in all modern cities; hence, 
that this centrifugal force, as we call it, is increasing, rather than 
diminishing. 

We also perceive, by the report above cited, that there are now in 
the city of Chicago 104,000 lots, and in the country, outside of Chi- 
cago, 120,000 lots; of the latter number, however, some 27,000 are 
branded by the surveyor as comparatively worthless and practically 



HOW MANY LOTS WANTED IN SEVEN YEARS? 189 

out of the market. We assume that fully one-third of the whole 
number of outside lots (120,000) must be deducted on this account, 
and on account of occupancy for other than residence purposes, and 
on account of erroneous subdivision, whereby what is properly a 
single lot is reckoned on the plat as two. This leaves the actual 
number of available residence and business lots outside the city at 
80,000. 

Now, in the city of Chicago, an area not less than ten square 
miles is occupied for business rather than residence purposes ; by 
railroads, manufactures, docks, warehouses, etc. This area is sub- 
divided into about 60,000 lots of the size (20x125) m °st usual in the 
business quarter of the city. We thus have left only 44,000 lots for 
residence purposes ; and in ten years' time the area of business will 
certainly have expanded 50 per cent., leaving barely 14,000 of these 
104,000 city lots for residence purposes. 

In ten years' time what will be the population of Chicago ? In a 
preceding chapter we have shown that 800,000 is the likeliest num- 
ber, or rather the minimum number, under fair auspices. Dividing 
this population into families of five persons, we have 160,000 families 
to be quartered on the 14,000 square lots. Allowing each family a 
lot (and it must be remembered that while more than one family is 
sometimes quartered on a single lot, a single family often occupies 
several lots), there remain 146,000 families to be provided for outside 
of the present city limits within the next ten years. Of the 80,000 
available lots outside the city, certainly not less than 20,000 are 
already appropriated by the 40,000 suburban residents, leaving 
60,000 unappropriated. 

Turned loose in the country, where land is plenty and cheap, these 
146,000 householders will not lose sight of the principal object of 
their going outside of the crowded city, viz. : plenty of room and 
the pure air, the freedom and the " chance to grow," which come 
with this boon. They will not, therefore, content themselves with 
less than an average of two lots each — many indulging in a block of 
one or several acres, and some, to be sure, putting up with a single 
lot. This will require 292,000 lots for the actual occupancy of the 
surplus city population, with a demand for at least one-fourth as 
much more for the purposes of local trading and for the manufac- 
tures, schools, etc., which may seek the different villages, and the 
public grounds, church grounds, etc., which may be dedicated by the 
local authorities. This swells the aggregate to 365,000 lots, and a 



190 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



very moderate allowance for the margin of unsold property held by 
the inhabitants themselves either for speculation or to ensure them- 
selves the right kind of neighbors — which is always to be found in 
the most completely settled villages, — still further increases it to 487,- 
000 lots. 

Deducting now from this sum the 60,000 lots already in the mar- 
ket, we have 426,000 suburban lots to be demanded within the next 
ten years. Let us allow the conservative a discount of the odd 
26,000 at once. Doing this, and reducing the lots to acres, we find 
that, for the purposes named in our calculation, leaving out of the 
account all extra demands as for new railroads, public works, etc., 
we find that 80,000 acres or 125 square miles of territory will be 
demanded by the ultimate consumers within the next decade. This 
fits out each of our twelve railroads in the suburban traffic with a 
continuous belt of village population, as densely settled as they 
should be and extending for half a mile on each side of the track for 
ten miles. Or, suppose the stations to be two miles apart — which 
is much better, the villages would extend, at only that interval, 
twenty miles out on each and every railroad now in the suburban 
traffic. The result will be instead, however, the development of addi- 
tional roads between those now in operation, and consequently, more 
territory accessible without more miles of travel for the denizens of 
any particular village. 

The author leaves the reader to judge for himself what prices the 
400,000 suburban lots will bring, and how much territory, additional 
to the 80,000 acres out of which they are to be carved will be 
brought into the market by their occupancy They ought not to 
bring more than $1,000 per lot, nor to enhance the prices of an equal 
amount of neighboring property to more than $3,000 per acre ; but 
between this average ($4,000 per acre) and the average prices now 
asked for land outside of the city there is a wide and a very sug- 
gestive margin. 



Part III. 



TRACTS AND TITLES. 




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THE CHICAGO REAL ESTATE MARKET. 

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Historical Review of the Traffic in Chicago Land — The most Ancient Trans- 
actions — Prices in the Early Day — A Solitary Horseman's Appraisal — 
Early Canal Sales — Inflation of Prices in 1835-6 — The Crash of '37 — 
State Relief for Buyers — Prices of Central Business Lots in 1842-3-4 — 
Prices and Dealers Twenty Years Ago — Flush Times Again — Chicago 
Real Estate in the Panic of 1857 — In the War — A General Advance — 
The Fire Comes — Its Effect on Prices and Salability of Land — Volume of 
the Traffic for the Past Four Years. 

DURING the year 1872 there was, exclusive of all minor sales 
outside the Chicago city limits, $61,203,550 worth of land 
lying within seven miles of the Chicago Court House, conveyed by 
warranty deed, and the instruments of -conveyance duly recorded 
by the County Recorder. The aggregate of such transfers during 
the preceding two or three years, though never reaching so large 
a figure, had not been far from a million dollars per week, on the 
average. This immense volume of real estate sales, kept up with 
steady increase from year to year, at once stamps the Chicago land 
traffic as an extraordinary one, and arouses general interest in its 
history. We shall do what we can, in the time at command, to 
satisfy this interest. 

The First Transaction. — The history of the real estate business in 
Chicago, though teeming with so many incidents and episodes that 
no volume can compass them, has at least this advantage, that there 
is no difficulty in getting behind it, where its beginnings may be 
easily traced. Nor are those beginnings sufficiently complex to be- 
wilder the historian in the least. Unless we reckon as " transactions 
in real estate " the squatting of the negro Point au Sable, on the 
north bank of the river, in 1796, or the jumping of his claim by the 
Frenchman, Le Mai, a year or two later, the first land trade in Cook 
County was that by which John Kinzie bought out the latter land- 
lord, some time previous, to the founding of Fort Dearborn, in 1804; 
13 



194 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

but as the price paid was mainly in consideration of valuable " im- 
provements," viz. : a log cabin and the good will of the aboriginal 
inhabitants, it is scarcely quotable as a real estate transaction. 

Scarcely less misty in its details is the sale, which we will quote, 
since it is necessary to begin somewhere, of " a house and farm near 
the fort," for which, in 1817, J. H. Beaubien paid one Dean, an army 
contractor, $1,000. In view of the colossal magnitude of a thousand 
dollars, in those days, the sale must have been the source of great 
jubilee in the Dean family, and no little surprise and gossip in dis- 
interested circles. 

An Informal Appraisal. — The next transaction of which we have 
any record was not a transaction, but an appraisal. Maj. Long, of 
the army, after passing over (or rather through, for there was no get- 
ting over these bogs in 1823) the land (?) on both sides of the river, 
from the fort to the junction of the two branches of the stream, 
reported in writing that he " would not give sixpence an acre for the 
whole of it." 

Some Notable Canal Sales. — From the date of the first canal sales 
in 1830 to the spring of 1834, there was no abnormal excitement in 
the Chicago real estate market. We have been permitted to look 
over the book of Canal Sales preserved by one of the enterprising 
abstract firms of Chicago, and find that the prices paid for lots in 
the very heart of the city any time previous to 1834, was eminently 
reasonable. 

No one, for instance, would grumble at being compelled to pay 
the same price for lots 4 and 5, block 34, that William Bell paid the 
State in 1830. The lots were each 80 x 180 feet in size and fronted 
north on Lake and south on Randolph streets respectively, with each 
a side front on LaSalle ; and the price paid was $23 and $25 respect- 
ively. Bell made a good thing on his lots by selling them, three 
years afterwards, at $100 apiece to S. Blood, and he might have done 
still better by holding them eight months and selling them as Blood 
did to Pearsons & Owen, at $600 apiece, after " Up she goes" became 
the word ; or still better by waiting until 1871 and selling them at 
$120,000 apiece, the ruling price of then ; but the best time to have 
sold would have been in 1856 or '7, provided Mr. Bell had managed 
to save the proceeds (which he probably wouldn't) from the general 
smash which occurred in the latter year. 

Quite another Story. — The same record of ("anal Sales tells a preg- 
nant tale of the years which followed the bargains noted above. 



REAL ESTATE IN 1 835 -44. 1 95 

Lots in the same vicinity — indeed farther away from the business- 
center of those and the twenty following years, sold at the sales of 
1836, at from $6,000 to $12,000 per lot, and went off "like hot cakes!" 
Inasmuch, however, as the State Legislature, after the crash came on, 
granted a rebate of 33^/3 per cent to all buyers, and agreed to take 
for pay the terribly depreciated canal scrip of those days, the figures 
afford no index of the real price of the lands. Turning to later rec- 
ords, we find that such a lot as that at the south-east corner of Ran- 
dolph and Wells streets (Fifth avenue) was sold by E. H. Hadduck 
(who never made sacrifices on land) to C. E. Holmes, in March, 
1844, for $300. It was 20 feet by 80 in size. Two months later we 
find Isaac Vanderpool deeding to Charles E. Peck a space 80x110 
feet next east of where the " Staats Zeitung " building now stands, 
for a total consideration of $350. And in January of the same year, 
Tuthill King had bought of John Blatchford for $600 a lot 60x116 
in the same block, fronting south on Washington street, and now 
easily worth $100,000. 

But our narration has already leaped over an important episode. 

The Inflation Period of 1835-6-7. — By 1835, ^ le Canal project 
had come to be pretty near a certainty, and the splendid future of 
the Northwest had become, in some faint degree, manifest to the 
perceptions of Eastern people. It was also perceived by some of 
them that Chicago, as the Lake Michigan terminus of the canal, had 
a great advantage of situation — held, perhaps, the key to the burst- 
ing granaries which, founded on the stilts of the imagination, or of a 
very liberal and hopeful calculation, dotted these boundless, virgin 
prairies. 

At all events, Chicago began to loom up as the City of Destiny — 
an appellation that was received by the many with the same shrug 
of the shoulder with which we now hear Duluth spoken of in that 
way. Those who came and saw, however, were conquered ; and 
many were convinced who did not come, but saw with the eye of 
faith; insomuch that, by 1836, Chicago lots were almost a staple 
article in the speculative markets of the Eastern cities. Of course, 
good lots and bad sold to strangers with equal readiness ; and it is 
humiliating to relate that there were sharpers in the land business 
in those days — a fact which, as is well known, has not been disco- 
vered in any other line of trade, nor in any other age of the world. 

During the year ending with the Fall of 1835, the population of 
the town (Chicago was not a city until 1837) had increased eight- 



196 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

fold, viz., to 3,265 ; and the demand for land was so great that one 
firm of brokers and dealers (Taylor & Whitlock) who set' up an office 
that year, sold over half a million dollars of property during their 
first six months. At the same time, the government land office, 
which was removed to Chicago from Danville the same year, sold 
370,043 acres, chiefly in Cook county, for $505,729. Real es- 
tate, in fact, was the principal commodity dealt in, as the country 
whose trade was to support Chicago had not yet been sufficiently 
developed to buy merchandise or sell produce to any great extent. 
The muddy reaches called streets, the wretched shanties dignified 
with the name of " hotel," swarmed with capitalists and speculators 
of every grade, from the unpretentious boor with six York shillings 
and as many title deeds in his pocket, up to the bloated aristocrat 
with four or five hundred dollars, and a knack of drawing on some- 
body at the East which the other had not yet acquired. 

We have given, in a previous chapter, a considerable insight into 
real estate operations of this buoyant period, for the reason that the 
history of the city consisted for a time so exclusively of them/that it 
could not be carried continuously forward without them. This his- 
tory we will riot repeat here ; but we shall refer, farther on, to the 
operations of Mr. John S. Wright, who has been quoted from, our 
purpose being to trace the subsequent history of the 'parcels pur- 
chased by him in 1834 and at subsequent dates. 

Price of River Lots in 1835. — During the years 1835-6, Chicago 
town lots became a great article of traffic in New York and other 
eastern cities. They were hawked by brokers ; and auction sales 
gotten up expressly for them were attended and participated in as 
eagerly as a drawing in a grand lottery, or a session of the Stock 
Board. A Chicago land dealer of the present day,* has in his pos- 
session a relic of this sort of business, which serves, doubtless, as a 
fair sample of hundreds. It is the auctioneer's own copy of a plat, 
from which were sold some twenty blocks of Chicago property lying 
along the North Branch. The prices brought were unquestionably 
low. Property having a water front, and a depth of two hundred 
feet or more, sold at only $13 per foot ; and lots a little back from 
the river, on Union aud Desplaines streets, brought only $4 per front 
foot. The sale took place in New York, the 8th of May, 1835. The 
sale was made by Messrs. Franklin & Jenkins, at the Merchants' 
Exchange, and appears to have been one of the many such that were 

* Mr. Edward C. Cleaver. 



WAS THERE INFLATION IN '37? I97 

occurring thereabouts in those days. The maps are very well gotten 
up, and show with perfect fairness the location and situation of things 
in the new city of the swamps, including the sand bar, which had not 
been penetrated by the straight cut at the mouth of the river ; the 
old fort opposite the foot of Pine street, and the light-house, then 
some distance from the fort. North State street then figured as Wool- 
coot street, and South State street did not exist, being, with all the 
avenues to the east of it, included in the undivided reservation. 
The property sold at this sale is now occupied by railways, docks 
and factories, and would bring at from 20 to 50 times the prices then 
realized. Bat the buyer doubtless sold them out during the excite- 
ment of the next year for cent per cent, profit. 

Was There Really Any Inflation ? — It has been claimed that these 
prices, while doubtless astonishing, as compared with the cost of the 
land to the retailer, are not " inflated." That is, they would yield a 
fair rate of interest, above expenses, if the owners had held until 
to-day. The same will probably be found true of almost any of the 
lots bought and sold up to the panic of 1857 — certainly more than 
true concerning the whole area traded in up to that time, reckoned 
together and averaged. 

The total commercial value of property, real and personal, is sup- 
posed to have been under one million of dollars, at the time Chicago 
became a city, reckoning the assessed value at one-quarter, which 
was $236,842. If, as is generally assumed by persons conversant 
with Chicago history, only half this sum stands for real estate (the 
record being imperfect), and if it was assessed at a full quarter of its 
value, it would seem that the universal crash of 1837 found at Chi- 
cago no reproachful inflation ; for in every growing place the panic 
of that dreadful year is known to have cast real estate out of all 
demand for years afterward, making the difference seldom less, often 
vastly more, than half. This was not so in Chicago, though the con- 
trary assumption, seemingly out of sheer inadvertence, is habitually 
prevalent, even in Chicago. 

A Shaky Investment, Nevertheless. — Of course, however, measured 
by the standard of certain and immediate revenue, or of the improve- 
ments which at the demand of commerce had been placed upon the 
property, Chicago land had reached a fanciful price in 1837. Risk 
was a much greater element in the bargain then than it is now — 
hence prices should have been lower, rather than higher than realize- 
able revenue would indicate. How great was [that risk was most 



198 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

disastrously proved during the fall of '37 and the few years fol- 
lowing. 

After the Crash. — The lowest point reached, according to assess- 
ments and corroborating data, was in 1840, when the real estate 
alone was assessed at $94,437, a figure only $23,984 less than the 
really half of that of 1837, viz. : $118,421. The city tax levy of 
the year 1840 was $4,722, nearly 5 per cent. The price, therefore, 
of the financial blast of 1837, which totally shut up the real estate 
markets of Eastern cities, gave back suburban lots at Philadelphia to 
buckwheat and oats, and ""nearly demolished the flourishing city of 
Cincinnati, cast down real estate in Chicago little over*- 25 per cent. 

This, of course, did not apply to all trades. Many, yet still excep- 
tional, parcels and lots had been long kept out of legitimate use by 
acquiring that purely imputed power of infatuating men, which does 
not depend even on a mistaken valuation, but Jepends on the notion 
each gambler has of what another gambler believes he can sell it for 
to a third ; even the latter not mistaking its real value, but calculat- 
ing, in turn, on a fourth, and so on. With this class, the little city 
was distressingly rife. When the crisis suddenly came, they were, 
of course, instantly exploded ; their large possessions, consisting of 
nothing in the world but stock in each other's temerity, instantly 
disappeared and left them without means for board. It has been 
said that the " enterprising citizens of Chicago would have depopu- 
lated the town at that day but they were too poor to afford the means 
of escape into other places. But this is true rather of the gambling 
class only, whose utter overthrow relieved the place of a baleful 
influence that had done much to corrupt legitimate industry, to dom- 
inate and pervert administration and to impede local public improve- 
ments. 

Recovery from the Collapse. — By 1842 the prosperity of Chicago 
had been so well restored, and population and traffic were increasing 
so rapidly that real estate could not fail to respond to these genial 
influences. We find by reference to the records of the time that in 
1842 the real property inside the city limits (then including 10^ 
square miles) had increased to $108,757 ; and by 1845, it had mounted 
up to $2,273,171 — a surprising leap, fully equaled by that of the 
next three years, during which $2,725,095 was gained, making the 
total valuation of real property $4,998,266 — still on the scale of 
one-fourth the selling value, but not still confined to the same area, — 
the city having been again enlarged so as to take in the country 



ROUGH ON UNCLE SAM. 199 

bounded by Fullerton avenue, Sedgwick street, North avenue, 
Western avenue and Twenty-second street. 

There were but few notable episodes in the Chicago real estate 
market during the period intervening between the two panics. The 
steady growth already indicated placed values where they belonged, 
so far as business property near the river was concerned, and busi- 
ness being then much more concentrated than now the few streets, 
like South Water and Lake, /which, custom demanded every trades- 
man to occupy if he would be "anybody," were brought by 1856 to 
prices which would scarcely afford a margin for profit if computed, 
with interest and taxes offset against rentals. But this circumstance, 
if true, only proves that too flush times bring their own punishment ; 
and the fact that ninety-nine out of every hundred Chicago lots were 
really cheap even at the prices of 1857, proves that you can't 
depend upon even so inflexible a financial rule as the above to 
enforce itself in Chicago, the grand exception to all rules. 

Government Lands Sold. — Uncle Sam was a large dealer in land 
in Chicago and its vicinity during the dozen years -preceding 1848. 
The record of public lands sold here from January 1835 to J une 2 9» 
1847 (including the Cook County lands sold at Danville previous to 
May, 1835, at which time the government land office was removed 
to Chicago), included 2,272,565 acres and a fraction, which were dis- 
posed of in nearly every case at the traditional dollar and a quarter 
per acre, the aggregate sum received for the lands being $2,903,016.87. 
During the same period the United States donated some 450,000 
acres to schools and canals within the district, so that in reality over 
2,700,000 acres were given for the $2,900,000 received. Imagine 
Uncle Sam's feelings when, twenty-five years afterwards, he was 
asked over $2,200,000 by Chicago parties for a patch of ground big 
enough to build a post-office upon ! Three-fourths of all he had re- 
alized from all those millions of acres ! It must have caused the old 
gentleman to mentally paraphrase a well-known proverb and remark 
that people are ungrateful to republics. 

Twenty Years Ago. — Taking a glance at the situation of the Chi- 
cago real estate market twenty years ago, we find perfectly normal 
and healthy prices prevailing, though it is evident that few capitalists 
had then fairly perceived the future which was in store for Chicago. 
With the exception of Lake and South Water streets, there was no 
high-priced business land in the city. On those thoroughfares the 
heavy mercantile traffic of the town was so exclusively located as to 



200 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

make rents exorbitant and prices of land correspondingly high. 
Chicago had not yet found out that she was different from other 
cities — that she could not have a Broadway worth $10,000 a foot, 
while equally accessible intersecting and parallel streets went begging 
at hardly more than a single thousand ; or a Fifth Avenue upon which 
Fashion would so imperatively command her votaries to live, that 
their rivalry would force prices along that avenue up to $30 per 
square foot for miles along. 

Aggravating Re??iiniscences. — Just so all the merchants aspiring to a 
first-class trade, whether wholesale or retail, were forced to find places 
on Lake Street, at no matter what prices. As a consequence, values 
on Lake and for a short distance on Clark streets were about as high 
twenty years ago as they are now, viz., $1000 per front foot. At the 
same time, prices on State and Washington streets, where $2000 per 
front foot would now be refused by many landowners, was in the 
market at $150, with few buyers. 

$100 per foot opposite the Tremont House. — On Dearborn street, 
opposite Rice's Theatre (between Randolph and Lake), we note one 
sale at about this date at $100 per front foot, one-fifth cash. And 
even in the "inflated" days of 1856, Col. Geo. R. Clarke, who had 
bought 25x195 feet on Madison street, between LaSalle and Wells 
(now worth $1800 per front foot), for $100 per foot, all on time, got 
so sick of his bargain that he hired the seller to take the property 
back. 

Prairie Avenue. — In 1852 or '3, the same gentlemen bought ioo- 
feet at the corner of Prairie avenue and Eighteenth street, at $10 per 
front foot. This is the ground now occupied by Mr. Geo. M. Pull- 
man's $200,000 house, and the highest priced residence property in 
the city, viz., $500 per front foot. At the same time, property along 
Michigan avenue, from Sixteenth to Twenty-second streets, had risen 
to $22.50 per foot, for an average; though in 1850 any of it could 
have been bought for $10. 

Twenty years ago, no property west of the river would command 
more than $100 per front foot, and the choicest lots in the vicinity of 
Union Park could be bought for $15 per foot. 

The Real Estate Guild in '53. — It could not reasonably be claimed, 
twenty years ago, that Chicago was in danger of being ruined 
through the multiplicity of her real estate dealers, though even then 
there were doubtless members of the fraternity who declared that 
the business was " crowded — done to death." The' guild numbered 



THE PANIC OF 57. 201 

barely half a dozen firms and single operators, viz. : J. H. Rees (now 
Rees & Pierce), S. H. Kerfoot, Ogden & Jones, with whom A. J. 
Galloway (now A. J. Galloway & Son), was afterwards associated; 
B. F. Russell, Clark & Pickering, and Thomas Freeman, with whom, 
during 1853, Col. George R. Clarke (now of Clarke, Layton & Co.) 
became associated. 

The Panic of 1857. — In 1856 the area of the city had been in- 
creased to eighteen square rhiles by the extension of the southern 
boundary to Thirty-fifth street; and land values had risen until the 
city assessment of real estate had become $25, 892,308, or about 
$8,250 per acre for the whole eighteen miles. The country had 
again, as in 1837, got in possession of a plethora of currency (poor 
stuff it was too) and another mania for speculation and reckless 
expenditure ensued. Chicago had the mania along with the rest, 
and " went in " with a zest, for she had already learned her habit of 
doing nothing by halves. Real estate of course caught the infection, 
and was sold largely on time to Eastern investors, running it up 
extravagantly by their own intense competition, for speculation. 
For the first time in any considerable item, Chicago became a cred- 
itor, and the East a debtor. But the recondite causes of the general 
panic of 1857 were behind the Eastern speculator, and soon disa- 
bling him for meeting his back payments on Chicago property, it 
fell in very large quantities back into the hands of its local, vendors 
without loss to them ; often passing through half a dozen defaults, 
or more, before getting back to them. On the other hand, even at 
that early day, much money had been borrowed in the East and cau- 
tiously secured on Chicago lots, which brought little more than the 

demnification of the creditor, if as much. But this is apart from 
the general fall of real estate, which was very great, but less disas- 
trous to those who could afford to hold it for the immense and per- 
manent rise of a few years later. 

The Effect of the General Crash on Chicago real estate, and 
especially on those who were speculating on small capital, is thus 
told by Mr. Colbert :* 

' The effects on the real estate market were fearful, and the building business 
suffered correspondingly. The depreciation of prices in corner lots was great in 
the winter of 1857, but it was much greater in 1858 and 1859, as payments matured 
which could not be met. A large proportion of the real estate in the city had been 
bought on canal time — the same terms as those on which Dr. Egan used to pre- 

* " Chicago and the Great Conflagration," p. 95, 96. 



202 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

scribe his pills in moments of abstractedness — one-quarter down, and the balance 
in one, two, and three years. They had depended upon a continual advance in 
quoted values to meet those payments, and found that they could not even sell at a 
ruinous sacrifice. Great number of workers left the city for want of employment,, 
and those who remained were obliged to go into narrowed quarters to reduce 
expenses. This caused a great many residences and stores to be vacated, and 
brought about a reduction in rents on those still occupied, which impoverished 
even those who were able to hold on to their property. Many hundreds of lots 
and houses were abandoned by those who had made only partial payments, and the 
holders of mortgages needed no snap-judgment to enable them to take possession. 
"A stop was at once put to the erection of buildings. Several blocks were left 
unfinished for years, and some commenced were never finished by the original 
owners." 

Can Such a Result Come Again! — Everybody understands that 
real estate in all cities and sections is subject to fluctuations, accord- 
ing to influences both local and general. At the same time it is 
evident to all who are acquainted with the Chicago of to-day that 
her land will never have, at least within the present century, another 
such general avalanche as those of 1837 and 1857. To those who 
are convinced only by experiment, the two crucial tests of the last 
two years ought to be satisfactory on this point. We allude to the 
fire which smote the city in 1871, and the financial panic of Septem- 
ber and October, 1873, the former of which lowered the average ask- 
ing price of vacant lands, but a mere shade, if at all, while the latter,, 
in spite of the desperate monetary stringency which it engenders . 
leaves the holders of Chicago property firm as a rock, and ready to 
sacrifice anything else rather than land. 

But it may be urged, the panic of 1873 was not equal to that of 
1857. So it was not. Neither will any panic be which may come here- 
after. The West has had its wild-cat bank period, as a child has 
the measles, and will not have it again. Chicago stood the panic of 
1873 better than any other great city in the nation — better than New 
York, better than Boston, infinitely better than Cincinnati and St. 
Louis. Why? It was not merely because we had abundant crops 
of grain behind us. It was because Chicago commerce is more 
legitimate in itself, and more legitimately carried on than that of 
New York, and more vigorous and active than that of the other 
cities named. It was because our commercial character is more 
stable than ever before, as well as because our trade is nourished by 
a broader, more populous and wealthier empire. It was because 
our industries had become so diversified that each supports the 
other, while all have made themselves indispensable to a vast popu- 



DURING THE WAR. 203 

lation whose demands for merchandise and manufactures are increas- 
ing faster than their own numbers, who can be supplied from Chicago 
six times more rapidly than from any other point, East or West, and 
whose situation, economically considered, is panic proof. 

Real Estate DiLring the War. — The effects of the panic of 1857 
lasted several years. In fact, the depression in real estate values 
incident to the general financial crash had not been recovered from 
when a new cause intervened to keep down prices — that is, the war 
of the Rebellion. So thoroughly did this influence work that the 
close of the war, though it found Chicago vastly more populous and 
prosperous than ever before, did not find land values any higher, 
unless in rare local cases, than they were eight years before. On 
Washington street there was some improvement to note, in view of 
the southward movement of business which had already set in. And 
the reader will be satisfied that there was plenty of room for im- 
provement when he understands that, a dozen years ago any land on 
Washington street could have been bought for $200 per front foot. 
In 1865 the destiny of LaSalle street as the seat of a great financial 
and exchange business had been established, and the Chamber of 
Commerce was already nearly completed ; and yet during nearly the 
whole of that year, lots on LaSalle street, just south of the Chamber, 
went begging at $300 per front foot, the present capitalized rentals 
of which are not less than $3,000 per front foot. Even on State 
street, in 1866, Mr. Potter Palmer bought for less than $1.50 per 
square foot, ground (included in the present site of the Palmer Hotel) 
which would now be appraised at $12 to $14 per square foot. 

After the War. — During the three years following the close of the 
war there was a rapid appreciation in value in almost all localities — 
the business streets most affected being Washington, Madison, State and 
the avenues east of State. In 1868 the lot at the southwest corner of 
State and Washington streets was sold to the First National bank at 
a price higher than had ever been known in Chicago hitherto, viz. : 
$25 per square foot; but the price was no index to that of neighbor- 
ing property, the circumstances being exceptional. 

There was also a special activity in eligible residence property on 
the avenues and at Cottage Grove, and the vicinity of Union and 
Lincoln Park witnessed a great advance during 1867, '8 and '9. 
Then came the park excitements out of town, which attracted nearly 
all the speculation during 1869 and '70, and the history of which 
will be given in a subsequent chapter. 






204 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

The Great Confiag7-ation and its Consequences. — Then came the 
fire, which had two principal effects on real estate. The first and 
most obvious was to depreciate such burned-over property as had to 
be sold, and to make slow the sale of that for which, as often oc- 
curred, the owners insisted upon getting the ante-fire prices. Not 
only, however, was this effect far less than would have been sup- 
posed, but it was in a great degree counteracted by the increased 
values which the plan of rebuilding has given to certain localities, 
like Fifth avenue, Franklin street, Madison street, etc. 

The other effect referred to was due to the fire ordinance which 
followed the fire, establishing more stringent regulations than for- 
merly on the subject of building and extending greatly the limits 
within which those regulations are enforced. The section wherein 
it is unlawful to build any frame structure other than alow, open 
shed, is now bounded by the Lake, Thirty-ninth 'street, State street, 
Twenty-sixth street, the Fort Wayne R. R. track, Twenty-second 
street, Jefferson street, the C, B. & Q. R. R. track, Throop street, 
Twelfth street, Ashland avenue, Van Buren street, Western avenue, 
West Lake street, Ashland avenue, Indiana street, Carpenter street, 
Chicago avenue, North Wells street, Lincoln avenue, and Fullerton 
avenue ■ — the reader understanding that each of these boundaries is 
followed until the other is reached, and the restrictions of the ordi- 
nance apply for a distance 125 feet outward from the line specified. 

Effect of the Fire Ordinance. — The passage of this ordinance drove 
beyond the limits named all persons who desired to build homes for 
themselves and who had not the means to put up a structure of 
brick or other fire proof material. Hence a brisk demand for build- 
ing lots just outside of the fire limits, and a chronic dullness in the 
market for moderately choice lots within those limits. We do not 
know any cases where there was an actual decline in current values 
on account of this ordinance ; but it has made the market for much 
semi-genteel property very slow ever since its passage — the owners 
maintaining, however, with obvious logic, that the ultimate effect will 
be a permanent enhancement of values. 

Increase of Suburban Business. — The same circumstance has acted 
decidedly in favor of suburban localities, to which professional men, 
clerks and others of moderate income but whose tastes rise above 
rows of cheap cottages, have been attracted in great numbers. In- 
deed, the feature of the Chicago market for the past two years has 
been the suburban trade, in which many fortunes have been made, 



SEVENTY THOUSAND REALTIES SOLD IN FIVE YEARS. 205 

and in which, also many are now locked up — though not so closely 
as to cause the owners much apprehension. 

Aggregate Sales for Five Years. — The " Real Estate Journal " 
prints the following summary of the values indicated in warranty 
deeds to Cook County lands, left for record at the Recorder's office 
during the periods named : 

NO. SALES. CONSIDERATION. 

186S, (20 weeks) L 5.307 .... $29,361,250 

1869, (full year). ': '. 13,994 .... 50.487,731 

1870, (full year) 11,446 -... 47,078,561 

1871, (9months) 9,688 .... 40,099,545 

Oct. 9th, 1871. to Oct. 9th, 1S72 12,791 .... 62,738,613 

Oct. 9th, 1872, to Oct. 9th, 1873 15,978 .... 82,943,359 

Grand total 69,204 ....$312,709,079 

It will be seen that the figures of the last twelve months but one are 
somewhat larger than those for the calendar year 1872, given at the 
opening of this chapter. The discrepancy results not merely from 
the different periods considered, but also from the larger area reck- 
oned in " The Journal's " calculation. 



LAND TITLES IN CHICAGO. 



' ' Short, Sharp and Decisive " — Advantages of the Western Mode of Dividing Terri- 
tory — The Abstract Business — History of the Three Principal Firms — What 
Private Enterprise Did and what Public Enterprise Did Not — A Desperate 
Rescue — After the Fire — Insignificant Upshot of Three Months' Legislation, 
Six Months' Arbitration and 3,000 Newspaper Communications — How Titles 
are Now Investigated — Cost of Abstracts, etc. 

TITLES to land in Chicago are short, simple, and, for the most 
part, strong. It is easy to see that a city where the original 
passages of the title to its lands from the government to individuals 
is a fact within the memory of men by no means old, possesses de- 
cided advantages in the facility with which her titles maybe verified. 

Simple Subdivision. — To this advantage Chicago adds the vastly 
more valuable one of a system of subdivision, viz., by square town- 
ships, sections, quarters, forties and tens, which none of the old cities 
possess. This advantage enables any person to identify, by half a 
dozen words of description, any one parcel out of ten thousand. It 
obviates a vast amount of research and danger of mistakes, and is of 
incalculable benefit in the conveyancing of property. 

Few Conveyances. — The shorter a title is, the simpler, of course ; 
and the simpler, the surer, as a general rule ; and although in a city 
where real estate has been so great an article of traffic as in Chicago, 
the titles cannot be expected to be as short — that is, the past con- 
veyances as few — as in a rural neighborhood of the same age, yet it 
will be found in tracing up the chain of title to the 104,000 odd lots 
in the city proper, that the number of conveyances by warranty will 
not average more than half a dozen to each lot ; while in the case of 
parcels outside of the city, the conveyances are still fewer — not more 
than four on the average. There are a good many quarter sections 
outside the city, and some lots in the very heart of the city, still 
owned by the men to whom they were deeded by the government. 

This being the case, a majority of buyers require to have the titles 



EARLY ABSTRACTING. 207 

to the lands in question examined clear back to the beginning, in- 
stead of assuming it to be good in some owner less remote than Uncle 
Sam, as buyers are compelled to do in older cities and those less 
simply subdivided. 

The "Original Town." — The township in which the "original 
town " of Chicago is located is known according to the western land 
nomenclature as fractional township 39, north, range 14, east, the 
sections numbered 1, 2, 3, it, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35 
and 36 being wholly or chiefly cut off by the lake — a portion of 
country which Chicago speculators have never subdivided, whatever 
Scandal may allege to the contrary. Of remaining sections, ail the 
odd numbered ones were given at an early day by the government 
of the United States to the State of Illinois for the purpose of build- 
ing a canal ; so that the titles to lands in these sections usually com- 
mence with the deed from the State, represented by the Canal Com- 
missioners, to the purchaser therefrom. The first conveyance of 
tracts in the even numbered sections (except the school section) is 
the patent of the United States government, dated for the most part 
prior to 1835. 

Beginnings of the Abstract Business. — Titles to lands in Chicago 
did not become sufficiently intricate, or the volume of business suffi- 
ciently large, to warrant anybody in setting up an abstract business 
prior to 1849. At that time, Mr. J. H. Rees, one of the pioneers in 
the real estate business, and still actively engaged in it, commenced 
the preparation of a set of books, assisted by Mr. Edward A. Rucker, 
a very painstaking expert at the trade. The latter stepped out of 
the firm, however, in 1850, and a year later Mr. Rees took in as his 
abstract clerk, Mr. S.'B. Chase, now well known as the leading repre- 
sentative of this important business in Chicago. Mr. Chase was able 
to keep up all the abstract books, even on a plan afterwards found 
too elaborate for practice, and to do some general land-office work 
besides. 

Chase Brothers. — In the spring of 1852, Chase was taken in as 
Rees's partner, the firm becoming Rees & Chase. A year or two later 
Mr. H. G. Chase was taken into the concern; and in 1859, Mr. Rees 
sold out, leaving the firm Chase Brothers. At the time of the fire 
this was still the leading abstract firm in town, employing a force of 
twenty-five men, and having accumulated a collection of 300 volumes 
of indexes, 230,000 pages of letterpress copies of abstracts — in all, 
some three tons of manuscripts. The fire came, and destroyed a 



208 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

portion of these books, but fortunately the most valuable part was 
saved, and is now in daily use, supplementing other valuable parts 
saved from the flames by the other conveyancers mentioned below. 

Shortall 6° Hoard. — The firm of Shortall & Hoard, who, with 
Jones & Sellers, pooled their capital with Chase Brothers just after 
the fire, are the successors of several old firms, and were the possess- 
ors of a very valuable set of books. The set was started by J. Mason 
Parker, Esq., in 1850, and sold out several times — Messrs. T. B. 
Bryan & John Borden being immediate successors of Parker. They, 
in turn, sold out to Messrs. Greenebaum & Guthman (Henry Greene- 
baum, the well-known banker), about 1855, and they to John G. 
Shortall, in 1858. By and by Shortall took in Mr. Hoard, who had 
formerly been Recorder of Deeds for the county, and the firm was 
known as Shortall & Hoard when the fire came and burnt- up all the 
records of which the abstract books were transcripts. 

A Desperate Rescue. — The Court House, where the records were 
kept, was across the way from the abstractors', and Shortall saw that 
his time had now come for making himself useful to posterity, and at 
the same time earning a bigger night's wages than was probably ever 
scored before by any person engaged in an honest pursuit. The im- 
portance of the acts of Shortall and his colleagues on this fatal night 
is exemplified in Voltaire's epigram on D'Alembert : " Humanity lost 
its title-deeds, and he recovered them." Had private enterprise 
been no more enterprising than public enterprise was, then the ab- 
stract books would have gone with the records which they had, as it 
were, photographed ; and then the title-deeds, not of humanity ex- 
actly, but of Cook County, would have dissolved away in chaos, or in 
chancery, which is about the same thing. 

Mr. Shortall arrived at the place where his precious books were 
stored at midnight on the night of the 9th of October. Observation 
had already told him that the safeguards which had been thrown 
around his property were not, as had been supposed, sufficient. The 
only safety lay in removing the books beyond the district likely to 
be burned over. What to do for a means of conveyance ? For 
Shortall, though versed in all manner of legal conveyances, was not 
equal to this emergency without help from a conveyancer of a more 
literal or physical type. But the carters were the greatest men in 
town that night, and in the vicinity of Larmon block none could be 
got, for love or money, to move those books. The only other resort 
was in the rear pocket of Shortall's trowsers. He drew it forth — a 



THE ABSTRACT BUSINESS CONSOLIDATED. 2O0 

revolver! and requested the nearest carter to come alongside and 
anchor while his craft could be rilled with books from upstairs. By 
keeping this instrument carefully trained upon the commander of the 
unknown craft, Shortall was able to hold him there while the boys of 
the office brought down the most of the books, and while the flames 
roared and the walls toppled around them. A friend came to the 
rescue after a while, with a wagon more commodious and a driver 
more trustworthy than the on£ whom Shortall had impressed into his 
service. The latter was, therefore, honourably discharged and reason- 
ably paid. The friend's wagon was driven off in the direction of 
safety, and the books were saved. A great many loose crannies in 
our land titles were thereby made snug and tight, and Shortall's for- 
tune was made. The exertions by which the other sets of abstract 
books were saved were scarcely less brave and praiseworthy. 

Jones & Sellers. — The books of Messrs. Jones & Sellers, which 
were also contributed to the joint library of archives from which the 
most of our land titles are now verified, were started at a later period 
than were either of the two sets referred to above. The founder of 
them appears to have been one Brown, who sold out to Mr. Fernando 
Jones, a wealthy and influential citizen, who has long dealt in real 
estate, but who has a soul above grubbing among musty records and 
plodding over dry and tedious indexes for the benefit of John Doe's 
title. Mr. Jones, therefore, soon (about 1866) associated with him 
Mr. Sellers, who became the working partner, and through whose 
assistance a set of books of original entry, indexes to tax sales and 
probated estates, and a larger amount of letterpress copies of abstracts 
were made out. These books, like those of the other firms named, 
were rescued by dint of great exertions from the consuming element, 
hardly any portion being lost in any case, except those least valuable, 
viz., copies of abstracts. 

Co?isolidation. — The fire over, and every scrap of the public records 
gone up in the fiery whirlwind, the abstract men were not long in per- 
ceiving that they held the key to the land title situation. It was found 
that by combining their books a record could be made up which would 
afford not only a complete chain of title to every tract in Cook County, 
but would also furnish very full evidence relative to the effect of all 
judgments — in fact a thorough inquest could be made by means of 
these books into all the strong and weak points of possession, claim, 
or conveyance. The three firms therefore lost no time in forming 
an alliance, and in making themselves ready to serve the public. 
14 



2IO CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

It was found, on invoicing the property contributed to the pool by 
the several members, that Chase Brothers could furnish a valuable 
set of tract indexes, a set of judgment dockets and indexes, a valua- 
ble set of map copies, and some 30,000 pages of press-copied 
abstracts. Shortall & Hoard brought also judgment dockets and 
tract indexes, with different particulars from those of Chase Brothers, 
to which they were a supplement; also indexes of tax sales, and 
75,000 to 80,000 pages of abstracts. Jones & Sellers had books of 
"original entry, 75, 000 pages of abstracts and indexes to sales ol 
school lands, administered estates, etc. 

Legislation. — The Legislature, however, assembling almost imme- 
diately after the fire, and continuing in session, with brief intervals, 
until the following summer, was disposed to enact a great deal of law 
for the benefit, or the supposed benefit, of Chicago land titles. All 
sorts of propositions were made, the most of them very absurd, and 
some of them approximately practical. Hundreds of columns of 
discussion were printed on the subject in the daily press, not so 
much from the editors as from those well-known and unqestionably 
sapient writers, "Tax Payer," " Justitia," and "Pro Bono Publico." 
The Legislature wisely refrained from enacting any sweeping law, such 
as was at first thought to be necessary; and it likewise adopted, as 
the basis of its action, the popular idea that the solution of the diffi- 
culty lay somewhere in the abstract books. To prevent private 
extortion, and to place the county in possession of some sort of an 
apology for its missing archives, it was proposed that the county 
should become the possessor of the abstract books ; and a law 
authorizing the county to purchase the books was finally passed. 
It was also enacted that an abstract of title made by a reputable firm 
for a party in interest in any particular conveyance should be 
received in court as evidence of title. 

This is about all that ever came of all the talk, and all the 

" Reams of paper, floods of ink," 

that were wasted in the gestation of a law that was to be the only 
panacea of all the title troubles. The result has proved that the 
business community has righted the matter by means of its own recu- 
perative instincts, regulated only by the unwritten law of commercial 
probity. 

A Hiatus in Business. — The law authorizing the purchase of the 
books by the county also prohibited the owners of the same from 



FACTS ABOUT ABSTRACTS. 211 

issuing any certificates of examination from May ist to December 
Tst, 1872 — a prohibition which might be very easily evaded, and 
was, to a considerable extent, by the abstract men giving opinions on 
titles, as lawyers, which we may add, were charged roundly for, and 
the business therefore kept light. 

Then ensued a long period of dickering and bargaining between 
the county authorities and the owners of the coveted books. The 
latter would have sold out their whole stock in trade for $750,000,, 
but this price the county authorities deemed exhorbitant, and a great 
many alternative offers were made on either hand. The Judges of 
the Superior and Circuit Courts of the county were asked to investi- 
gate the matter, and they reported at the end of August that all the 
offers thus far made by the county (for certain parts, not the whole, 
of the books) were unwise ; also that the county had better buy the 
complete set if it should buy any. The county concluded not to buy 
any, the price asked being deemed exhorbitant. The result is, the 
public is voluntarily paying out more than two thirds as much/^r 
year to this single concern for abstracts as the outside price asked by 
the owners for their entire set of books. 

The Books Leased. — On the ist of December the abstract men 
were allowed to go on with their business, which they did by leasing 
the books for a term of years to Messrs. Hardy, Simmons & Co.. 
This firm commenced business at once, with a force of over seventy 
men, and so great was the demand for examinations of title that 
within a month they had accumulated seven hundred orders more 
than they could fill at once. 

Facts About Abstracts. — The following interesting facts relative tc- 
their business were published in " The Times " of sometime last 
January : 

" This order is numbered and filed ; the applicant makes his exit, and the order 
goes on its way through the mill. " The Times " will not undertake to guaranty 
that the order of John Doe, a stranger to the conveyancing fraternity, will go 
through just as rapidly as the order for a certificate upon which Potter Palmer is. 
going to get a $100,000 loan or convey that amount of property, thereby stopping 
$50 a day interest. At all events, it goes through some time — and this is what it 
goes through : 

" First, it is brought in contact with Chase Brothers' valuable old Tract Index — 
a sort of ledger, in 200 or more volumes — whereby the corner of each tract of land 
is traced through all its vicissitudes of mortgage, quit claim, warranty, etc., and a. 
" chain of title " made out. It is then taken around into another room, where, safe 
in a vault, repose another precious collection of volumes — 46 in number — called 



212 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

books of original entry, and another series, comprising 200,000 pages of letter-press 
copies of abstracts, made out by the firm of Shortall & Hoard previous to the fire. 
The incipient " abstract " is enriched by reference to each of their collections, after 
which the clerk having it in charge consults an index of irregular conveyances 
(meaning quit-claims of right or interest in property which is not located in the 
instrument, and which is only distinguished in the index by the names of the 
grantors and grantees). He next consults a set of books in which chattel mortgages 
are recorded, since it is quite possible that a house or household may have been 
mortgaged away by some party other than the owner of the land. After this, there 
may be need to consult another enormous set of bulky volumes, in which are 
recorded all the judgments of the Chicago courts wherein real estate is concerned. 
The extent of the record may be inferred from the fact that, on the Friday noon 
preceding the fire, the Circuit Court of Cook County had passed 39,396 such judg- 
ments ; the Superior Court 36,376; the United States Circuit Court about 10,000, 
and the obsolete Court of Common Pleas 21,343 — all of which are transcribed 
with their most essential details in these books. When all this is done, the first 
draft of the abstract is carefully copied and handed to Mr. Simmons, of the firm, 
for his examination. The signature and seal of the firm are then affixed, and the 
certificate of examination is ready for delivery. 

" This document is of precisely the same nature, and quite as comprehensive as 
those given before the fire. The price charged is rather higher than then ruled, 
and the unsophisticated grantor will probably grumble at the amount, and wonder 
where those abstract sharks will go to when they die. The " party of the second 
part," however, takes a different view of the subject. The " abstract shark " will 
remind you, for instance, that in the first place, the property which he has placed at 
your disposal for this occasion is worth at least three-quarters of a million dollars, 
the annual interest upon which is at least $75,000, as times go ; that, in the next 
place, his help costs him at least $125,000 a year, and that, at this rate, the annual 
expenses of this firm are just equal to what he will tell you were the receipts of 
1872, viz.: $200,000.. Furthermore he will ask you if you read 'The Sunday 
Times?' You reply 'yes,' and he rejoins, 'Then you have noticed that the 
: total sales of real estate in 1872 were $61,000,000 — absolute sales, mind you. Now 
. add to that an equal amount for mortgages made in obtaining loans, and which 
require examinations of title, equally with warranty deeds : total $122,000,000. 
What percentage of that amount do our charges amount to? Less than one-sixth 
■ of one per cent. You can't get titles examined in any other city, and a certificate 
furnished which makes the property marketable, for three times that sum.' And 
then the abstract man proceeds to compare his meagre pittance with the commission 
charged by architects for telling a landlord whether or not his building will stand, 
just as he (the abstract man) tells the said landlord whether or not his title will 
stand ; or with the real estate broker's charge of 2 to 5 per cent, for negotiating a 
sale, and the chances are that the grumbler will leave that abstract man with a sigh 
of pity for his severe and unrequited toil." 

Prices, etc. — The force employed in the office has since been 
increased to 115, subject to slight reduction in dull times. The 
number of orders for examinations filed between Dec. 1st, 1872, and 



COST OF ABSTRACTS. 213 

Oct. 2 1 st, 1873, was 8,408. The price charged for abstracts varies 
greatly according to the length of the title and the nature of the 
examination. For what is called a full abstract, going back to the 
patent from the State or National government, from $30 to $250 will 
be charged ; for a mere continuance, the minimum charge is $12; 
and the average of all the charges (from one-fourth to one-third 
being for full abstracts) is found by examination of the books for the 
last quarter to have been $42.33. The most expensive abstract ever 
ordered from this establishment was that made out not long ago for 
the Riverside Improvement Company, for which $3,125 was paid. 

There are two or three other abstracting firms in Chicago, who 
are able to command a considerable patronage for examinations not 
reaching back past the date of the fire. 

As already intimated, the evidence of title furnished by the means 
above recited are generally accepted without question both by resi- 
dents and non-residents. Upon them millions of capital have been 
loaned, and millions paid down as purchase money. There is no 
question but that the county ought to possess the only archives which 
show the ownership of its lands, and to furnish abstracts therefrom 
at a mere trifle above the actual cost. Nevertheless, the fact that 
these archives are still private property has not yet interfered, and 
doss not now threaten to interfere with the free and convenient con- 
veyance of land. 



EPISODES OF TRADE. 



Golden Opportunities Improved and Neglected by a Young Speculator in the Early- 
Day — Humiliating History of the Most Aristocratic Tract in Chicago — Land 
Investments in Hard Times — A Speculation in 1852, when Eighteenth Street 
was a Mile and a Half Out of Town — The Wentworth Tract and its Neighbor 
to the East — Money that was Made in Them — A Transaction in Boulevard 
Property — Washington Heights, and the Brilliant Operations Thereabout — 
Thirty-fold in Seven Years — Twenty-four Thousand per cent. Profit — The 
Northwestern Car Shop Syndicate and its Operations. 



WE shall record in this -chapter a few of those many hundred 
operations in real estate whereby large profits have been 
made either very quickly, or upon very small investments, or in some 
cases where those profits have been forfeited through the lack of 
cash or courage on the part of the would-be buyer. The chapter 
might easily be extended so as to occupy this entire volume ; and, 
indeed, we have been obliged by pressing space to omit many 
"episodes" noted down as worthy of preservation. Enough are 
given, perhaps, to show how things have been working at almost 
every period of the history of the city. 

John S. Wright's Experience. — Mr. John S. Wright, one of the 
oldest inhabitants of Chicago, gives in his book on Chicago (pub- 
lished 1868) full accounts of his experience as an owner of real es- 
tate. Mr. Wright has been less successful in this respect than his 
brother Timothy (now one of our wealthiest men), having a little 
too much theory and too little practice in him ; nevertheless his 
operations are well worthy of notice. Mr. W. began here as early 
as 1834, while a mere boy, his personal credit and his known 
connections serving in lieu of legal responsibility to makes his notes 
acceptable. The fact is, at that time Chicago real estate was not so 
precious as to make its holders hesitate long over the quality of the 
property for which they exchanged it. 

In 1834, then, this boy bought lot 4, block 17, original town, 80 by 



TIMES HAVE CHANGED. 215 

150 feet, for $3,500 — a good round price, as everybody said. Fifteen 
months later he sold it for $15,000 cash, which was an exceedingly 
good price for the times. The highest value to which the same prop- 
erty has since risen (it lies on South Water street, north front, between 
Dearborn and Clark streets) can scarcely have been more than 
$120,000. 

Quite different, however, is the career of another tract bought by 
Mr. Wright a day or two afterwards, viz., on the nth March, 1834. 
for the same sum — $3,500. It comprised 73 acres in the west half 
of section 4, original town, and 175^ acres on the South Branch. 
The 73-acre tract is worth to-day at least half a million dollars, and 
the tract on the South Branch (if we do not misjudge the location) 
but little less. The value of the South Water street lot has been 
brought down by the fire and the centrifugal force of business in 
Chicago, to less than $80,000, while the same and later events have 
brought the other property up to a much higher figure than that 
placed upon it in 1868 by Mr. Wright — $500,000. 

Four Thousand Dollars for $2,500,000 worth of Property. — Still 
more instructive is the next important venture of this operator — the 
purchase of 43.87 acres in section 22, lying between the lake and 
State street, in the vicinity of Eighteenth street, at $80 per acre. 
This investment was also doubtless laughed at as a visionary one ; 
but in five years the value of the tract had so increased that a mort- 
gage on it and certain other property named below was taken at the 
State bank as security for a note of $10,000 (notwithstanding the 
crash of '37). So demoralized was the real estate market during 
those years of general financial distress, however, that the inevitable 
mortgagee's sale realized only $4,000 for the whole property. In 
1868, Mr. Wright estimated the value of the land at the then current 
prices at $1,750,000 ; and it cannot to-day be worth less than $2,500,- 
000, while the improvements that have been placed upon a single 
square of it will reach at least half that sum. We thus see the extra- 
ordinary spectacle of a tract of ground now mortgageable, with its 
improvements, for (say) $8,000,000, selling under the auctioneer's 
hammer, a generation ago, for a paltry $4,000. Imagine John S. 
Wright, possessor of the fee simple of the domain which embraces 
the princely palaces and spacious grounds of Messrs. Daniel Thomp- 
son, Marshall Field, Edson and Elbridge Keith, Louis Wahl, Fer- 
nando Jones, C. M. Henderson, George Armour, "and 100 others," 
' shinning " around from broker to broker to get a loan of a few 



2l6 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

thousands, and vainly offering to convey the whole domain by the 
strongest of trust deeds as security for the loan, at no matter what 
rate ! Imagine the alacrity with which John S. Wright would be 
kicked out of any business office in which he had ventured to predict 
that this sandy tract would within his day be covered with residence 
palaces, any one of a score of which would be superior to any then 
known on this continent. 

Dirt Cheap. — In January, 1835, Mr. Wright bought the forty acres 
which now forms Butler, Wright & Webster's addition, on Franklin 
and Market streets, North Division, for $4,000. The land embraced 
in this tract would now bring, without improvements, $1,500,000. 

Another tract which was gobbled up by the State bank on that 
$ro,ooo note was an eighty in section 34, bought by Mr. Wright in 
1835 for $800, and now worth on an average $100 per foot, of $16,000,- 
000 for the whole tract. 

Real Estate in Tight Times. — A half dozen other operations of 
.Mr. Wright's, showing equally fascinating bargains (from to-day's 
point of view) are mentioned by this bold but unpractical operator, 
who adds pathos, as well as instruction, to the tale by recounting 
how all his possessions were swept away by the crash of 1837. The 
lesson to be learned from this experience is not, what the superficial 
reader will be most likely to derive, that real estate, even in a grow- 
ing city, is very hazardous, though very promising property to hold. 
The correct inference from this experience is that in the long run, 
real estate investments are the safest as well as most profitable ; and 
that, to ensure this, one has only to exercise ordinary forethought 
(which Mr. Wright usually did not) and not carry a large indebted- 
ness from year to year without rents to meet expenses, and without 
resources to stave off a foreclosure in case of a fin an cial pinch. 
The man who came to Chicago and bought at anytime between 1840 
and 1853 would have a much better showing of advancing prices 
between those dates and the present than Mr. Wright makes above. 
Financial disasters like those of 1837 and 1857 have to be taken into 
the general account in all calculations as to investments; and no 
investment which promises good rates of interest or profit is sure 
against them. Most sure of all is real estate in a growing city, the 
inevitable metropolis of a growing country ; for whatever your land 
may be owing you in such a time, it will pay sooner or later. It 
cannot leave the country or go through bankruptcy, like a personal 
debtor, or dissolve into thin air like an unstable corporation. Though 






an "out of town" transaction. 217 

it may be under a cloud for a few panicky years, you always know 
where to find it. It may be as absolutely unsalable as an odd shoe, 
and an old one at that, but it is sure to rally by and by, and to sell 
for a price that compounds handsomely on the sum originally 
invested. 

How to Handle Land with an Incumbrance. — This applies to land 
which is only slightly, or not at all, incumbered. If one must go in 
debt for a portion of the purchase money — that is, if he wishes to 
realize a large profit on a small investment — he should, for safety, no 
less than for. larger profits per annum, turn his property as rapidly 
as possible, and to that end he should either be an expert buyer and 
seller, and enter the center of real estate circles himself, or else act 
through brokers who have these advantages, and who will be able to 
prompt their principal on every goou opportunity to buy, sell or 
exchange. There are non-resident capitalists who have made hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars each in Chicago during the past twelve 
months, with scarcely a single visit to the scene themselves ; and 
there are real estate brokers here who are able to say, after twenty 
years' business in this line, during which they have bought and sold 
$50,000,000 worth of property, that no customer who bought and 
sold on their judgment has ever netted a loss. And it should be 
borne in mind that this statement covers a period which includes two 
of those dreaded financial crashes — the panic of '57 and the cur- 
rency explosion and real estate depression of the early part of the 
war. 

The First Car Shop Speculation. — The movement in Section Ten of 
the Town of Cicero, which attracted a good deal of attention last 
summer and winter, and which had for its object the establishment 
of very extensive railroad shops in the quarter named, and a conse- 
quent appreciation of values in the vicinity, had its earliest Chicago 
counterpart or precedent in the summer of 1852. At that time the 
American Car Works (since purchased and now operated by the Illinois 
Central Railway Company) were established here by a company of 
Connecticut capitalists. Their location was " away out on the lake 
shore," fully a mile and a half from the settled portion of the city. 
By the early part of the next season blocks that had been bought at 
the Canal Trustee's sale at $100 to $200 per acre were bringing $2,500 
to $4,500 per block of two to three acres (as then subdivided), or 
$5,000. to $7,500 per block as they stand now. The location speci- 
fied is no longer " a mile and a half from anywhere " — at all events, 



2l8 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

it is sufficiently near to "somewhere " to render the land thereabouts 
very firm at twenty-five to thirty times the prices of twenty years 
ago. The land lies east of Wabash avenue and north of Twenty- 
sixth street. 

A Profitable Tract. — Nor did the chances for good bargains all 
cease with the flush times preceding 1857, and the subsidence of 
those good angels of the real estate speculator, the Canal Trustees 
and School Board. In the fall of 1865, Col. Geo. R. Clarke had in 
hand a tract of twenty acres lying between State Street and Indiana 
avenue, and south of Thirty-first street, which he managed to sell to 
some enthusiastic persons for $54,000. The buyers held the land but 
a few months before they were able to sell it out in blocks for $108,- 
000. This was not quite eight years ago ; and though the price has 
not doubled up every " few months " since that time, it has much 
more than quintupled once during the period. So has the large 
Wentworth tract, which the beforementioned parcel adjoined, and 
which was disposed of by its colossal proprietor at colossal profits — 
enough to balance all that he makes (?) on his Chester pigs and 
Dominique fowls at Summit and his political campaigns in the city 
for years to come. 

Subdividing the Wentworth Tract. — A fifty-seven acre parcel of 
Mr. Wentworth's land, lying between State street and Wentworth 
avenue, Thirty-first and Twenty-sixth streets, was bought in 1866 by 
Messrs. George and Charles Walker, and Mr. Sheldon, of Springfield, 
for $100,000. It was regarded as an uncommonly good sale ; but 
the purchasers were able, after subdividing, and without any consid- 
erable expense, to sell out the whole within two years for $258,000. 

Let us follow the retailed parcels down four or five years and learn 
a lesson from their history. The lots brought $400 a piece on the 
average ; but those, say on Wentworth avenue, which brought this 
price, are not now worth more than $1,500 each, while the lots on 
State street, in the same subdivision, which then went for $550 each, 
now command $4,000. It was known as well then as it is now, that 
State street was the great retail thoroughfare of the South Division, 
while Wentworth avenue was a mere local street ; but average buyers 
can not make their purses comprehend what their tongues are ready 
to admit. 

A Boulevard Speculation. — One of the sudden developments of 
wealth incident to the location of the South Parks, and a case which 
shows how a man may have greatness thrust upon him, had for its 



A NEAT BOULEVARD SPECULATION. 21 9 

subject an eighty acre tract lying between Forty-third and Forty- 
seventh streets, north and south, and between Cottage Grove and 
Egandale avenues, east and west, with the Drexel Boulevard running 
smack through it. This tract was owned in September, 1868, by the 
Murray estate of New York. At that time George R. Clarke made 
an arrangement with Charles Stinson,an Englishman of some means, 
to purchase the land at $80,000, the\ price asked by the Murrays ; 
Stinson furnishing the means, (and Clarke doing the work and allow- 
ing his partner eight per cent, interest — both sharing the profits 
over and above that, and other expenses. As it turned out, Stinson 
furnished no money at all, Chas. H. Walker having been admitted 
into the ring as capitalist. Some $25,000 more was spent to per- 
fect the title and make certain improvements ; and within four 
months from the time of purchase, Clarke had sold the east half for 
$27,000 more than the whole had cost. The balance is still owned 
by the same parties (the interests having been divided), except ten 
acres which Mr. Walker sold for $100,000 — a price since excelled 
65 per cent, by the same block at retail under the hammer; and 
$15,000 is certainly the lowest at which any acre of the property 
could now be purchased. 

John Brougham's Twenty Acres. — Another case or two will be 
added to those already given illustrative of the hundreds of cases 
where property inside of, or quite near, the city limits, has been very 
quickly and very profitably sold out at retail. There was the twenty 
acres bought by T. S. Dobbins of John Brougham, the actor, six 
years ago last July, and bounded by Cottage Grove and Charles 
avenues, Forty-first and Forty-second streets. The price paid was 
$20,000, one fourth cash and the balance on time at six per cent. In 
five months all was sold out in half acre lots for $57,780, and the 
same land is now selling at $75 per front foot, or about $16,000 per 
acre. This was not a park speculation, but an investment founded 
on the inevitable growth of the city. 

A Cottage Grove Transactio?i. — From the year 1866 until the time 
of the fire there was a very rapid advance in values in the Cottage 
Grove district, situated east of Indiana avenue and south of Thirty- 
first street. To exemplify this we are permitted to cite an operation 
very much like many others in the neighborhood, viz., the purchase 
by Col. George R. Clarke from John L. Scripps of eight acres lying 
on Oak avenue (corresponding to Thirty-sixth street). The price 
paid was $21,000, cash. In five months from the date of purchase, 



220 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Col. Clarke had sold out at prices ranging from $30 to $35 per front 
foot, and aggregating $58,720. "A fortunate turn," the reader sug- 
gests. Perhaps Clarke was of the opposite opinion the other day 
when he sold one of the original lots at $125 per foot — a price 
which yields fifty per cent, profit per annum for six years on his ori- 
ginal investment, with an average expense for taxes of two and one- 
half per cent. 

Equally successful were the operations of Mr. Chas. Cleaver a 
little farther south, in what is known as Cleaverville, of which he 
bought a large area in 1866 and 1867, at $625 per acre, and had dis- 
posed of nearly all of it previous to 187 1, at prices ranging from $60 
to $100 per front foot. 

The Blue Island Land Compa?iy's Operatio7is. — The operations 
of the Blue Island Land and Building Company may be briefly 
summarized. This organization set out in 1868 with $35,000, cash, 
with which they purchased, at about $100 per acre, a large tract sit- 
uated fully twelve miles south of the Court House. This tract they 
named Washington Heights — a name that was subject to some 
sneers from those who first visited the tract to attend an auction sale 
advertised in the summer of 1868 — this being, of course, before the 
rather sagging, though well elevated plateau had been drained by 
means of sewers. 

What have the company now to show for their investment in this 
far-off country place ? Well, not much. Nothing except dividends, 
actual or practicable, amounting to $780,000, and one hundred acres 
of land readily marketable at $1,500 per acre: in other words, a clear 
profit of $895,000 on their original investment of $35,000. 

One land holder in this vicinity has made, as is estimated, little if 
any short of half a million dollars by the advance in prices of land 
in this vicinity. For this gentleman, about the time of the company's 
purchase, Col. Clarke bought thirty-seven acres, at less than $75 per 
acre ; and the owner has marketed eleven acres of the poorest of it 
at something over $r,ooo per acre. If he should hang on to the rest 
of it for two years longer, and the anticipations~of the most candid 
and experienced brokers who have made this property a specialty 
should be realized, he would be able to take $175,000 at that time 
for the remaining forty-six acres. 

Transactions of Bowen Brothers and Others. — The price paid by 
Bo wen Brothers, in 1864, for the one hundred and twenty feet after- 
wards occupied by their store, on Randolph street, between W^abash 



ADVANCES THAT COULD N T HELP OCCURRING. 221 

and Michigan avenues, was $450 per front foot. Before the fire the 
value of the land had increased to $2,000 per foot, but is scarcely- 
more than $1,500 at present, owing to the increased room taken pos- 
session of by the heavy wholesale trade which has there its habitat. 
The rentals at the time of the fire paid nineteen per cent, gross on 
the land at $2,000. 

For eighty feet at the corner of Madison street and Michigan ave- 
nue, the same parties paid $250 per front foot in 1865 ; and, despite 
the same influence alluded to above, the ground is now easily worth 
$1,500 per front foot. It should be understood that these are by no 
means exceptional cases. They are in no wise different from hun- 
dreds of other ordinarily sagacious bargains made from day to day. 

Outside the business quarter, however, the record is always more 
brilliant. For land north of the Calumet that is now withheld from 
the market, but which will doubtless be marketed within two years 
(by the Calumet C. and D. Co.) at anywhere inside of $10,000 per 
acre, Col. Jas/H. Bowen paid, in 1868, $60 per acre; and all the 
land around, and including the watch-making village of Cornel], could 
have been bought, at any time down to 1868 or 1869, at $50 per 
acre. 

Senator Logan, and Others, at South Englewood. — In July, 187 1, 
Doctor C. V. Dyer induced Senator John A. Logan and Col. Bowen 
to buy a half-interest in a farm held by the doctor, at what is now 
South Englewood, on the Rock Island railroad. The price named 
in the contract was $500 per acre. While the buyer of another frac- 
tional interest was getting his money ready for the cash payment 
precedent to the deed, however, the fire came on and scared the buy- 
ers all out of their trade. Hence the farm had to be sacrificed to 
Sisson & Newman, three months later, at $650 per acre, these people 
in turn sacrificing it, some three months afterwards, at more than 
double the cost, after selling out a good many village lots. To make 
the " sacrifice " more complete, the partner who backed out of the 
purchase at $500 has since bought some of the same goods at $2,600 
per acre ! 

Thirty-fold in Seven Years. — On the 20th of March, 1866, Mr. 
John K. Rowley purchased the north half of block 31, canal trus- 
tees' subdivision of section 33, a little distance cityward from the 
stock-yards — inside the city limits. He paid for it $3,845, and it is 
now salable for $100,000. The same is to be said of the south half 
of the same block, which was bought in July, 1868, for $15,000. 



222 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Twenty-four Thousand Per Cent. Profit. — Perhaps the largest dis- 
proportion between paying and selling prices ever known in this part 
of the country is that noted in the summer of 1873, in the case of a 
tract in the town of Calumet, long owned by the late Walter L. 
Newberry, and descending to his heirs with the rest of his estate. 
The price paid for the ground was $1.25 per acre — the government 
price ; and it was not sold until it brought $300 — 240 times the cost 
price. Probably this case is nearly equaled by several others, in 
which the original takers-up of government lands at prices from $2.50 
to $5.00 per acre, have received from speculators as high as $600 or 
$800 per acre. And perhaps Mr. William B. Ogden can beat it 
clearly with some of his land to the west of the city, which was, we 
believe, obtained from the government, and which is now on his 
hands, and worth from one to ten thousand dollars per acre. 

Mr. Ogden could not in 1865 see the beauty of buying at $80 an 
acre a certain 80-acre tract in section 3, town of Cicero. It was 
offered him at that price for a third party by Mr. Thomas D. Snyder, 
of Snyder & Lee, who knew that Mr. O. owned the ground on both 
sides of the tract in question. As the same tract has since been sold at 
$2,800 per acre, it must be inferred either that the great millionaire's 
financial forecast failed him for once in this case, or else that he had 
made all the money out of Chicago land that he cared to make. 

The Northwestern Car Shops. — Being in section 3, town of Cicero, 
which adjoins section 10, we may as well stop a moment to mention 
the very extensive operations which were carried on, chiefly in the 
latter section, during the summer of 1872 and for some time follow- 
ing, with reference to locating there all the central shops of the 
Northwestern railway corporation. The scheme was a vast one, 
since it embraced, as nearly all such schemes do nowadays, a com- 
bination among officers of the road and useful outside parties for 
speculating upon the results of such an important movement. A 
syndicate was formed, to share the burdens and profits of the spec- 
ulation in land, and a skillful manager, Mr. Joel D. Harvey, as- 
sisted by Mr. W. M. Derby, went to work to secure refusals on the 
lands thought to be necessary. This business was managed so well 
that contracts for nearly 1,000 acres were secured at less than $1,000 
per acre, notwithstanding the land lies close under the walls of the 
city. The 240 acres required by the company were measured out 
to them, and the syndicate then came before the public as the West 
Chicago Land Company, with subdivided lands for sale to the rail- 



A LIVELY TRACT. 223 

road company's employees and the public at large, at prices treble to 
sextuple those paid by the syndicate. The members of trie Land 
Company consist largely of Northwestern railway officials. The 
expenses at the outset were very large, and the income thus far has 
been small ; but there is no doubt (complete arrangements for meet- 
ing deferred payments on the lands being presupposed) that the div- 
idends will be large during and after next year. 

Speculation at Washington ff eights. — Under the head of the sev- 
eral suburbs will be found a great many memoranda of large and 
quick profits realized by operating in land within or near each of those 
suburbs. Prominent among such speculations are those which have 
been carried on in the vicinity of Washington Heights — a district 
which has been more speculated in during the past year than any 
other anywhere around the city. The transactions of which a single 
half interest of a half section in section 5, town 37, range 14, has been 
the subject, were thus recounted in "The Sunday Times " of one 
day last summer (1873) : " That piece of land is a good example of 
Washington Heights acre property, only perhaps a little more so than 
the most of such tracts. It has been sold eight times within the past 
four years by a single firm — Snyder & Lee, and at prices which have 
ranged steadily upward from $68 per acre to $1,375 P er acre. In 
January, 1868, George H. Beardslee sold this land, with other adjoin- 
ing, for $50 per acre. On Feb. 26 of the same year, Stevens sold to 
John F. Eberhardt at $68 per acre. On March 4 following, Eber- 
hardt turned over the half interest referred to, to Rankin & Braley 
at $100 per acre. On the 22d of February, i860, Rankin & Braley 
transferred it to O. A. Bogue and F. A. Weage at $150. On Oct. 22 
following, Weage & Bogue sold it to John D. Piatt for $250. In 
August, 187 1, Piatt sold it to E. W. Eldridge at $400. A month 
afterward Eldridge sold out to Maria E. Hilliard at $450. Last 
March, Mrs. Hilliard sold to Isaac Crosby, of Massachusetts, at an 
even $1,000, and Crosby has now contracted to sell it at $1,375. 
(The holder of the other half interest, it may be added, has been 
offered $1,500 per acre for his interest, and small tracts, only equally 
eligible, have sold at $2,000.) These sales have all been for cash 
and deferred money payments, and all sales bona fide. The total of 
the purchase money negotiated by Snyder & Lee has been over 
$450,000, and their commissions foot up at $11,225. Pretty good 
wages for ' turning over ' the teeming soil of a farm away down in 
the town of Lake." 



VALUES OF BUSINESS LAND. 



/ 

Prices which Have Been Paid in London and New York — The Maximum in Chi- 
cago Does Not Approach Them — Highest Prices yet Paid for Chicago Ground 
— Cheapness of all Grades of Business Property — Probabilities Concerning 
Future Prices, etc. 



THE most valuable ground not built upon in the city of London, 
according to an estimate in " The Times " of May 4, 1873, is 
worth ^1,000,000 (or $5,000,000) per acre. This is equivalent to 
$1.35 per square foot; and it is obvious from the context that the 
estimate was for the private lots alone, and exclusive of streets and 
alleys. It is further stated that the current rental of land in Victoria 
street is £1 per square foot per aunum, which gives about ^25 per 
square foot as the capitalized value of the land. This holds through- 
out the street, which we infer, nevertheless, is not the most high 
priced street in the city; at least we may infer as much from the 
statement quoted above. There are no data at hand concerning the 
values which have been placed upon exceptionally desirable corner 
lots. It must be something enormous ; and we have the general 
statement on the same authority (" The Times") that the value of 
land is usually to that of the improvements upon it as three to one. 

Prices in New York. — Concerning selling values of the highest 
priced ground in New York, we have more exact figures. The best 
corner lots on certain streets south of City Hall have brought con- 
siderably over $100 per square foot, notwithstanding the expansive 
tendency of business in that metropolis. The lot on which the 
Drexel building stands, corner of Wall and Broad streets, was only 
to be had at a cost of $106 per square foot for the whole 8,927 feet 
— nearly four lots ; and the price paid by the Western Union Tele- 
graph Company for the lots upon which its new building stands was 
still higher — 7,500 square feet costing at the rate of $1 13 per square 
foot. 

Prices in Chicago. — The highest price realized iii any transfer ot 



MAXIMUM PRICES. 225 

Chicago land recently recorded was $25 per square foot. This price 
was paid for an irregular lot enclosing the southwest corner of Clark 
and Madison streets, and having two eligible fronts, with a total area 
of 4,400 square feet. But this is not the highest price ever paid for 
land in Chicago. The lot on which Mr. W. K. Nixon's fine build- 
ing, at the corner of LaSalle and Monroe streets, stands, was pur- 
chased by Mr. N. in January, 187 1, for $119,000, the lot is 80 feet 
by 46 t 1 q, making the price aboiit %$$ per square foot. The lot of 
Dr. Wheeler, on the northwest corner of Dearborn and Madison 
streets, was recently transferred to the City Savings Bank at the price 
of $42,000. This lot is 20 feet by 40 in size, embracing a total area 
of only 800 square feet, so that the price was $52.50 per square foot. 
The title has not yet been passed, but the bank company has a refusal 
of the land at the price mentioned, and has built in a style which in- 
dicates its intention to take the property. 

Rentals indicate Higher Values. — -It is not, however, by sales of 
this kind that we can best arrive at the actual value — even \ the 
market value — of the most valuable real property in Chicago ; since 
that class of property is in almost every case so held as to be seldom 
transferred. Take the ground, corner of Dearborn and Washington 
streets, on which Kendall block is built. Its area is 3,600 square 
feet. Before the fire, it was rented in advance of its construction at 
$40,000, and it now rents for at least $36,000. This, at to per cent., 
represents a valuation, including the building, of $360,000. The 
building is worth $80,000 ; deducting which, we have $280,000, or 
$77.78 per foot for the value of the land. The strip on LaSalle 
street, corner of Monroe, on which Bryan block is built, affords an- 
other illustration. This piece, covering 6,400 square feet, and im- 
proved at an expense of $100,000, rented at $52,000 the first two 
years for offices. Reckoning as above, and deducting the $100,000, 
we have $420,000, or $81.25 per square foot, for the value of the land. 
It may be claimed that the rent is exceptionally high on account of 
the scarcity of offices at the time it was completed ; but if there is any 
allowance to be made on that score, it is more than balanced by the en- 
hanced cost of building during the season of 187 1-2. It must be 
admitted that the Bryan lot is an exceptional one, as is also the 
Wheeler lot — both having a great amount of frontage on good 
streets in proportion to their area. The Nixon and Kendall lots, 
however, are fair samples of corner lots; and these, judged by fair 
data, are to be quoted at far higher prices than that of the Willard 
15 



226 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

lot (concerning which last, it may be remarked that its purchase by 
Mr. Willard for $100,000, two years ago, was one of the principal 
grounds on which the buyer was adjudged insane !). 

A building which stands next to the Chamber of Commerce, and 
faces the Court House square has recently been erected by Messrs. 
Scudder & Edwards, in trust for others, and leased in detail at an 
annual rental which places the value of the land at $28 per square 
foot ; and the building of Chas. Busby and others on State street, 
running from the corner of Washington north some 200 feet, has also 
been leased in detail at an annual rental indicating a value of $44.44 
per square foot for the land. 

But Little High-Priced Land in Chicago. — But while in London 
there are a dozen thoroughfares in which scarce any land can be had 
at less than $100 per square foot, and while in New York you may 
traverse Broadway for miles, or Wall, Bond and Broad streets 
throughout their whole extent without finding a lot valued at less 
than $50 a square foot, it will be found that in Chicago, high priced 
business property does not hold out for any long stretch. In our 
map of the city, an attempt is made to give in a rough way some idea 
of the areas within which business and fancy residence property 
reaches, for a maximum, certain graded prices per front foot. The 
very limited area within which it reaches the neighborhood of $25 
or even $20 per square foot, is not marked out at all ; for the former 
district would be three or four spots, at the intersection of State with 
Monroe, Madison and Washington ; and the latter a few exception- 
ally eligible inside lots in the same vicinity, on State, Madison and 
Washington. Nor is the limit within which $1,500 per front foot 
— say 100 feet deep for corner and 125 for inside lots — nor is the 
district within which that is the maximum price by any means one 
of very large area. The inevitable effect of the sudden destruction 
of the whole business quarter, and the uncovering of a square mile 
of business ground — all anxious to get into the market again as 
soon as possible — should seriously depreciate the selling value of 
this property. 

Property Worth Over $10 per Square Foot. — Fancy prices are not 
reached until either the available ground is all covered, or certain 
districts become so decided favorites with merchants as to create a 
strong pressure towards them. The former contingency has certainly 
not occurred in Chicago, and the latter in only a very moderate 
degree. State, Dearborn, Clark, LaSalle, Madison and Washington 



BUSINESS CAN BE DONE CHEAPLY. 227 

streets have, by virtue of their honorable occupancy, their position 
as great thoroughfares, or the elegance and completeness of their 
reconstruction, established their title to be first-class streets, on which 
prices higher than $10 per square foot for inside lots can be com- 
manded (for a total frontage of not more than ten miles, or an area, 
say 140 acres). 

Best Wholesale Streets at a Less Figure. — Off those streets, the 
prices now paid range entirely: within that figure. Wabash avenue, 
Michigan avenue and Lake street, permanently first-class wholesale 
thoroughfares, already occupied by hundreds of the most elegant and 
substantial warehouses, still have plenty of well-lying lots in market 
at not more than $8 per square foot, and in some cases as low as 
$6.50 to $7 ; and South Water and River streets, where a great vol- 
ume of coarse traffic is transacted at small profits, are still cheaper; 
while Fifth avenue, Franklin, Market and Monroe streets, whose 
future as wholesale thoroughfares is pretty well assured and much 
fine building already done, sell at from $5 to $7 per square foot, the 
market being, except with regard to Fifth avenue, decidedly slow. 
On streets occupied by retail shops exclusively, a price for land 
higher than $5 per square foot is unknown; while the average price 
of such lots is not above $3.75 per square foot. 

Business Done Cheaply. — These prices are not only suggestive to 
capitalists who have considered with us the vital force of Chicago 
and the probabilities of her future, but they also show under what 
favorable circumstances business is now transacted in this city. The 
humble shopman on the cheaper streets unites with a family or two 
upstairs in paying rent on land and building' worth five to ten thous- 
and dollars all together. The more pretentious retail dealer, on a 
rather important street, though outside of the wholesale quarter, pays 
about one-third (divers dentists, photographers, lodgers, etc., con- 
tributing the rest,) of the necessary rental on 20 front feet of ground 
worth $10,000, and a building costing not quite as much. The aver- 
age jobber pays for three or four floors of a store which cost $15,000, 
upon ground worth $20,000 — accommodations which can well be 
afforded him at $3,000 per year. The very large jobbers and retail 
" princes " pay what they please. 

Thus it will be seen that the prices of eligible business property 
in Chicago are remarkably low in proportion to the amount of busi- 
ness done and in view of the prospects and present prosperity of the 
city. The first thought growing out of this circumstance is, that it 



228 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

favors the general business of the city by enabling landlords to rent 
at low figures. The next thought is to inquire after the cause, which 
is very simple and obvious — the fact that, under the present style of 
building, and without entirely covering the burnt district, a much 
greater floor area of stores is now in use, or ready for use, than be- 
fore the fire — hence the lack of present demand for land for com- 
mercial purposes, and the consequent lowness of prices. 

The Future of Business Land. — The next thought suggested by 
the situation is, Will this surplus land be soon required by the inevit- 
able growth of the city ? And will it ultimately, on favorite streets, 
reach the prices commanded by such land in New York ? The affir- 
mative of the former question is easily granted ; of the latter, not so 
easily. While almost any of the vacant business land in the burnt 
district of Chicago would be a good, sound investment, taking into 
consideration the rise in price of from 25 to 100 per cent, which all 
of it is sure to undergo within five years, and the revenue from rentals 
which the most of it can be made to produce within that period, it 
can hardly be expected that, even when Chicago has a million inhab- 
itants, as New York now has, her Broadway (which is State street) 
will be commanding any such exorbitant prices as New York's Broad- 
way now does — say $8,000 per front foot from Wall street clear up 
to Twenty-third. No one street in Chicago will ever be favored to 
so great a degree as to bring the prices of its lots up to four or five 
times those of parallel and intersecting streets, though, of course, 
some of the influences of the concentration of first class traffic will 
be felt, and prices will doubtless be paid for business lots in Chicago 
within the next five years which have never hitherto been heard of. 

On the wholesale streets, the maximum rates reached will scarcely 
pass $10 per square foot, there being no special advantage of loca- 
tion which will cause a jobber to pay rent on more than this, rather 
than move on south or west ; there being yet hundreds of acres of 
ground, reasonably convenient to dockage and railroad depots, which 
are already, by common consent, assigned for ultimate occupancy by 
the wholesale trade. Inasmuch as the greater part of this ground is 
now obtainable at $5 or less per square foot, while that lying inside 
the very next stride of business expansion can be had for $8 to $10, 
and good mercantile rentals soon derived from it, the desirableness 
of this class of property as a medium of investment should not be 
difficult to appreciate. 

We have said, and shall steadily maintain, that the peculiar to- 






ADVICE GRATIS. 229 

pography of Chicago, superadded to the daily increasing facilities 
for transacting business, as it were at long range, will tend to 
broaden the district within which prices of land are moderately high, 
and militate correspondingly against an extremely high figure in ex- 
ceptional localities. Nevertheless, those who have studied the ten- 
dencies of business, know that there are certain absolute advantages 
to be gained by the concentration of houses in the same line of 
traffic, which will inevitably cause local pressures for rentals, and 
raise the price of the best business property in Chicago to a figure 
far above those at which such property is now held. In view, how- 
ever, of the liability of such favored sections to shift from place to 
place in all cities, speculation based upon this fact is hardly any, if 
at all, safer than buying outside the highest priced quarter, and 
waiting for the tide of business and profit to approach. 




w 

(IX 

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K 
III 
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6 



STREETS OF CHICAGO. 

Panoramic View of Principal Streets and Edifices— The Old Chicago and the New. 

State Street. — This splendid thoroughfare, as one of the longest, 
the broadest, the most important in a business way, and the one on 
which the fine retail business of the city finds its maximum devel- 
opment, deserves priority of mention. It extends from North 
avenue and Lincoln Park, in the North Division, to a point far down 
toward the south end of the county, where the surveying-chain of 
man runneth not to the contrary — ■ in all at least ten miles in a 
straight line, north and south. Of this stretch, the northernmost 
mile is occupied chiefly by residences of the bstter class, though the 
State street of the North Side is by no means the aristocratic avenue 
that no-thoroughfare Dearborn street is. It is well paved, however, 
and before the fire was well lined with stately elms, and honored 
with two or three large churches. The glory of State street 
begins at Lake, where the solid wholesale warehouses of the district 
near the river give way to the more showy stores which abound 
further south. These cann3t be described in detail ; let it suffice 
that from the alley north of Randolph to the alley south of Monroe 
— four long squares — there stands as good an exhibition of ornate, 
graceful, varied and costly business architecture as can be found in 
any equal space of a single street on this continent. Within that 
space are included the elegant new Windett building, the immense 
Busby building, with its -400 feet of frontage ornamented with colon- 
nades carved out of the softly-tinted Cleveland stone ; the Singer 
building with its huge front of marble, elaborately carved and mass- 
ively laid — occupied by Messrs. Field, Leiter & Co., from base- 
ment to roof, for their retail dry-goods business ; that rich, 
chaste monument of the " p re-igneous period," the First National 
bank building, with Potter Palmer's elegant stores adjoining 
it to the south; the splendid facade of Peter Page's building. 



232 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



flanked on either side by structures which combine to fill the 
east side of the square with the most imposing block of stores in the 
city* — the store of Richards, Shaw & Winslow being of the Lake 
Superior sandstone, very delicately carved ; the rather striking struc- 
ture occupied by Clement, Morton & Co., and surmounted by a 
dome and clock which attract the eye from along distance; the 




Store of Field, Leiter & Co. 



modern and attractive store fronts to the south of that ; the Pike 
building, scarcely less beautiful outside than it is gorgeous inside, 
with the fixtures and stock of the finest jewelry palace in the United 
States ; and last and chief, the Palmer House, grandest of existing 
hotels and most costly of all Chicago buildings yet erected, or 
likely soon to be erected by private enterprise. 

Engravings of several of these buildings are given in this volume. 
We make room also for a brief description of the Palmer House. 
The external appearance of this remarkable building is best 
shown in our engraving, which has already attracted the reader's 



STATE STREET. 233 

eye. Its construction was commenced early in July, 187 1, and has 
not since ceased, except for severe winter, weather ; the force em- 
ployed a majority of the time being on the average about 350 hands. 
The plan of the Palmer House was only evolved after several plans 
had been submitted to the proprietor, Mr. Potter Palmer, by the best 
Chicago architects, and after he had, with the architect selected for 
the purpose (Mr. C. M. Palmer), traveled over Europe and availed 
himself, not only of the hints of the architects there, but of the ideas 
to be gathered from the finest hotels in that center of civilization 
and luxury. The best hotels in Europe are probably the Grand, at 
Paris, and the Beau Rivage d'Angleterre, at Geneva. Mr. Palmer's 
determination was to eclipse them all, and the unanimous opinion of 
travelers is that he has done it. 

First, we must speak of the substantial points characteristic of this 
hotel. The chief of these is the massiveness and solidity with which 
it is built. The edifice contains 17,000,000 bricks, of which over 
1,000,000 go into partition walls. It has been said that the Palmer 
House contains more bricks than any two hotels on this continent, 
and more iron than all of them together — an exception being made 
of Mr. Stewart's immense Woman's Home, at New York. There are 
about 90,000 square feet of marble tiling in the floor of the building, 
and all the flooring is laid upon massive beds of cement, supported 
by I beams brought from Belgium, with intervening arches of cor- 
rugated iron. The precautions against fire are in all respects very 
complete. There are also about this hotel many novel and excep- 
tionally thorough arrangements for admitting light liberally every- 
where, avoiding unpleasant kitchen and closet odors, etc., which 
cannot be particularized here. 

The dimensions of the building are, on State street, 254 feet; on 
Monroe street, 250 feet; and on Wabash avenue, 131 feet; total 
area covered, 72,500 square feet. This is necessarily divided up by 
courts, and of these, the carriage court, entered by portes cocheres 
from three streets, is 90 x 120 feet in dimensions. The facings of the 
several fronts are of gray sandstone, with the first story and entresol 
of massive iron castings, which alone cost $100,000. Of the facing 
stone, 160,000 cubic feet were used. 

The peculiarity which, after all, most impresses the visitor, is the 
more than palatial richness of the interior finish. The immense office 
of the hotel, 64 x 106 feet, and 24 feet in height, is wainscoted every- 
where with Italian marble, stu dded with panels of remarkably rich 



234 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

rose brocatelle marble, many of the natural mosaics exhibited in 
these panels being of rare and curious beauty. The wainscoting of 
the counter is the same. 

The next feature on which the wealth of the builder has been most 
conspicuously lavished is the grand staircase of Carrara marble, 
springing from the ground to the uppermost floor, and constructed 
upon that wonderful self-supporting plan whereby each step has only 
to be fixed at one end — the whole stretching outward from the wall 
with apparently no support at all. The principle is a variation of 
the keystone, and is applied in only one other instance in America — 
Girard College. Some idea of the startling weight thus suspended 
in mid-air may be conjectured from the fact that at each landing (of 
which there are several to every story) there is a square block weigh- 
ing 5,200 pounds. The intermediate stairs are solid blocks, and 
weigh perhaps 1,200 pounds each. 

The total cost of the edifice falls but little short of $2,000,000 
The style of the furnishing is correspondingly elegant, and the bill 
for that item will be but little inside of $500,000. All the front 
rooms, up to the fourth or fifth floor, are furnished with satin or vel- 
vet upholstery, Wilton or moquette carpets, and have elegantly carved 
mantels, on which stand clocks of bronze, gilt or or-molu, with other 
ornaments to match. The dining-room and other salles a manger 
are five in number, located contiguously to each other, and having a 
total area of 12,033 square feet. The principal dining room , 64 x 76 
feet in size, is arranged so as to suggest an open Italian court, the 
sweep of the eye being relieved by massive fluted columns extending 
around the room, as if supporting piazzas. There are 700 rooms in 
the Palmer House, and the electric apparatus by which the occupants 
of each communicate with the office, includes nearly 100 miles of 
wire. Perhaps these figures are sufficient to give the reader a fair 
general idea of the largest and costliest hotel in the world. 

South of Adams street, there is as yet but little that is noteworthy 
on State street. For a considerable distance the ground swept of its 
old-time shanties by the fiery breath of that October simoon, has not 
yet been covered by the structures of the imperial era. The most of 
the landlords hereaway are waiting on each other for concerted action 
with regard to street widening and paving; and this will probably 
come as soon as there is a really urgent demand for more first-class 
stores, which at present there is not. Still further south, viz. : be- 
yond Harrison street, this thoroughfare is a most unattractive, nay, 



MAXIMUM VALUES ON STATE STREET. 



2 35 



positively forbidding resort, either for the pedestrian or the eques- 
trian. Its road-bed is of cobble stones or of dirt, its buildings are 
mere rookeries, its shops, whisky saloons and variety stores of the 
third rate, and its dwellings, boarding houses and brothels. But we 
shall change all that some day. 

South of Twenty-second street there is a moral improvement, but 




Springer's Block. 



not an architectural one. The destiny of the street is doubtless to 
be the principal shopping thoroughfare for a mile on either side 
throughout its whole extent south of the river; and the shops will 
take their character from that of the section of the community to 
which they minister. Values of land on State street rise to perhaps 
the maximum now reached in Chicago, viz. : $2,500 per front foot in 
the vicinity of Washington, Madison, and Monroe streets — a figure 
that has hardly been commanded since the fire, though rentals much 
more than justify it. 

Wabash Avenue. — This avenue, lying- next east of State street, 
was long the finest residence thoroughfare in the city, and had the 



27,6 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

advantage of being early laid out in a style appropriate to a high 
degree of elegance. The march of improvement, however, fixed a 
different destiny for it, and the episode of October 9th hastened the 
change. Many of its homes, which still remained such, were swept 
out of existence in the great destruction, and the remainder, lying 
north of Twenty-second street, were, almost without exception, in- 
vaded by Trade during the hurrying week which followed. 

It was at first believed quite generally that Wabash avenue would 
at once become the favorite seat of the first - class retail and whole- 
sale trade, i. e., the Broadway of Chicago; and building commenced 
very promptly and vigorously towards this end. It was soon stayed, 
however, and the class of business referred to has now settled back 
in almost exactly its former quarter, — the showy stores on State 
street, well down town, and the more than substantial ones at the foot 
of Wabash and Michigan avenues. There they establish the foun- 
dation of a grand wholesale traffic district, which will extend gradu- 
ally southward and make Wabash avenue in time all that it aspires 
to be ; but the process will be slower than was first calculated upon, 
and the character of the architecture and the traffic which it accom- 
modates, will be less brilliant, though not, perhaps, less rich. 

Wabash avenue can already boast some splendid business archi- 
tecture, which extends in two almost continuous lines as far south 
as Adams street, with but few interruptions as far on as Congress 
street, where the line of the burnt district crosses the avenue from 
the southeast. Among the finest of the buildings are Peter Page's 
block and the Wabash avenue front of Potter Palmer's Grand Hotel, 
while along both sides of the avenue, from Washington to Congress 
street, are many store fronts made splendid by show windows of plate 
glass in unprecedented sizes, through which are seen, as vividly as if 
it were in the open street, collections of costly merchandise which 
realize in their marvelous beauty the tales of Aladdin's palaces. A 
very showy and withal somewhat remarkable store front, is that of 
Giles Brothers, which presents various Egyptian designs in various 
kinds of carven and polished stone. Aiken's Theatre and the Post 
Office- — a church metamorphosed for the temporary purpose — are 
among the noteworthy structures north of Harrison street. 

South of that dividing line, the former residences of the aristocracy 
still remain — some of them still occupied as shops, but the most of 
them given over to that close follower-up of retreating aristocracy, 
the genteel boarding house keeper. This is the rule to Twenty- 






MICHIGAN AVENUE. 



2 37 



second street — south of which the avenue is an elegant residence 
thoroughfare, and will remain such — though less so than Michigan 
and one or two other avenues to the east — through a long period of 
Chicago's future. Prices of Wabash avenue real estate during the 
past year have been low as compared with some former periods. 
Probably $1,250 per front foot would command almost any vacant 




Fine Art Building. 



business lot now for sale south of Washington street. The best price 
obtainable for residence property south of Twenty-second street, 
would be $250 per front foot. 

Michigan Avenue. — The history of Michigan avenue corresponds 
in many respects with that of Wabash avenue. It is not five years 
since there were still remaining on this thoroughfare, between the 
river (which is here bridged) and Washington street, a considerable 
sprinkling of the old-time palaces of the prairie princes ; and not 
merely that, but a still more interesting relic — some of the barracks 
of the old Fort Dearborn. If any of these primeval palaces were 
still remaining at the time of the fire, that affair certainly made a 



27,8 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

sudden end of them, and their place has been filled by wholesale 
warehouses devoted to the grocery, hardware, and other heavy lines 
of business. These extend as far south as Madison street, beyond 
which the new regime of Michigan avenue is not very fully illus- 
trated. Michigan avenue has in Rush street and its bridge a prac- 
tical prolongation to the point in the North Division where the latter 
street strikes the lake and terminates. 

The Exposition Building is the most conspicuous structure on this 
avenue, occupying the entire frontage of two squares and a street, 
viz. : from Monroe street on the North to Jackson street on the 
south. A faithful likeness of this Chicago wonder is shown upon 
the margin of our county map. The "wonder" of the affair consists 
chiefly in the speed with which the building was contracted for, built, 
and thrown open to the public after its construction had been de- 
termined upon. It was not until the 16th day of June, 1873, that 
the first blow was struck toward excavating for the foundations of 
the building; and on the 25th of September the exhibition was in 
full blast, in its palace of brick and iron and glass. A brief descrip- 
tion of this edifice follows. 

It has the form of an elongated ellipse, being, without the addi- 
tions, 800 feet long by 200 feet wide, the floor area being 243,936 
square feet, or 110,936 square feet more than that of the New York 
Crystal Palace of 1852. The immense vaulted roof of the building 
is supported by trussed arches of wooden framework, thirty-one in 
number and each 150 feet span. The walls, to a height of twenty - 
five feet, are of brick. Above them comes a course of roofing, 2>2> 
feet and oblique ; a course of glass, 17 feet, and oblique ; a course 
of roofing covered with tin, 56 feet; a course of glass, 9 feet high, 
and perpendicular ; and finally, a course of tin roofing, 14 feet, to 
the ridge or apex. Above all this, at the center, projects the grand 
central dome, 60 feet in diameter, and 165 feet in height. There are 
also domes at the two ends of the building, each 48 feet square, and 
rising to a height of 140 feet. The space upon the main floor is 
arranged in concentrix ellipses, as at the Paris Exposition of 1867, 
the steam power for machinery being placed near the north end. 
A gallery containing an aggregate of 57,000 square feet of flooring, 
extends clear around the building. 

Some idea of the magnitude of the Exposition building may 
be formed from the following figures : The edifice contains 3,000,- 
000 feet of timber and lumber; 1,716,000 bricks; 4,200 cubic 



THE EXPOSITION BUILDING. 



2 39 



feet of stone ; 150,000 square feet of tin ; 40,200 square feet of 
glass, mostly the ribbed plate glass used in the skylights; and 14,000 
feet of gas pipe, much of it three inches in diameter. Into the 
construction of the building went 3,744 days of mason work, and 
13,200 days of carpenter work. The total cost was but a few 
dollars one way or the other from $250,000. It may be added that 




George A. Springer's Residence. 



the enterprise has already proved, like most Chicago public enter- 
prises, an unequivical success. The daily attendance — during the 
first three weeks of exhibition constantly increased from 15,000 or 
20,000 per day, and on some days reached as high as 70,000. 

— To return to Michigan avenue. There are but two noteworthy 
business structures south of the Exposition building. These are the 
Gardner House, first of the new first-class hotels to rise from the 
ashes, and the one which boasts an uninterrupted lake view, and the 
Fine Art Building, illustrated abuve. 

To the east of the avenue, for a mile along the lake shore, stretches 



240 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Lake Park, a 40 acre tract, now being converted into a beautiful 
public pleasure ground — the only one in the business quarter of the 
city. The destiny of the section of Michigan avenue facing the park 
and the lake is reserved as yet, to await the upshot of certain disputes 
between the Illinois Central railway corporation, the city and certain 
individual property holders, relative to the right of the railway com- 




James Bolton's Residence. 

pany under a State statute of four years ago, to come in and take a 
portion of the north end of the park for its depots and yards. 

The really choice residence quarter, on Michigan avenue, com- 
mences as we go southward, at a short distance south of Sixteenth 
street. Thence to the point where the business of Twenty-second 
suddenly interrupts it, the house ar chitecture is of a class to show to 
most imposing effect, especially in view of the unusual width — 100 
f eet — f the avenue. South of Twenty-second street the tide of 
fashion and elegance sets in again, and is rapidly pushing south- 
ward, with no known obstacle to stay its progress. 



RESIDENCE AVENUES. 



24I 



Values upon Michigan avenue, north of Sixteenth street, range 
rather below those of corresponding points on Wabash avenue. 
South of that, and especially south of Twenty-second street, the 
rule is reversed. Residence lots in the vicinity of Twenty-fourth to 
Twenty-sixth streets, command $300 and upwards per front foot. 

Indiana Avenue. — This avenue does not, like Michigan and 




' 



No. 924 Prairie Avenue. 



Wabash, penetrate the center of the city. It commences at the lake 
shore, in a maze of railroad turnouts, north of Fourteenth street, and 
runs uninterruptedly southward, becoming at once a highly respect- 
able residence avenue, albeit traversed by a horse railway which 
some of the patricians have struggled bitterly against, but which 
others, equally devoted to the high reputation of the avenue for 
elegance, have favored with equal zeal. 

The maximum price obtainable at present for Indiana avenue lots 
is probably about $300 per front foot — this in the vicinity of 
Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets, where the avenue lies near the 

high lake shore, and is exceedingly well built. 
16 



^■" 



242 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



East of Indiana Avenue. — The choicest residence property in 
Chicago lies along the avenues to the east of Indiana, viz., in their 
order, Prairie, Calumet, and South Park avenues. Prairie avenue, 
from Sixteenth street, where it begins, south to Twenty-second street, 
has the finest residences, and its few vacant lots command the high- 
est prices ($450 to $550 per front foot) yet realized for residence 




Louis YVahl's Residence. 



lots in Chicago ; though the beautiful sites on Calumet avenue, for 
two squares north of Twenty-second street, mostly occupied by im- 
provements of a very high grade, would doubtless be rated at about 
the same price. It is along Prairie avenue that the splendid houses 
of Daniel Thompson (the most costly in Chicago as yet), Marshall 
Field, George Armour, Edson Keith, Elbridge G. Keith, Geo. 
M. Pullman (now in progress), Louis Wahl and other leading citi- 
zens are located. These residences, like the most of those built in 
Chicago of late, are characterized by a much higher degree of taste, 



RESIDENCE AVENUES. 243 

and appreciation of the true principles of residence architecture, than 
has been characteristic of the West or of the Western Continent. 
Houses which from the outside would not be readily noted for any- 
thing far above the common, unless it were an extra minuteness in 
the finish, or an unusual solidity of structure, not only in the house 
itself, but in its surroundings, will be found, if one can gain the open 
sesame, and penetrate to the interior, to be constructed, fitted, and fur- 
nished in a style of sumptuous and tasteful luxury, attainable only 
through the most liberal expenditure of means, and the most intelli- 
gent employment of skilled artisans and artists. The age of luxury 
has not yet so far progressed in Chicago as to make these things 
attainable at home, and so our Prairie avenue princes have had in 
many cases to send abroad for their architects, frescoers and uphol- 
sterers, as well as for their special patterns of Aubusson or Axmin- 
ster, and of China and glass wares for their tables. The result is a 
degree of taste, as well as elegance, surprising to connoisseurs from 
abroad who take into consideration how young Chicago still is, and 
how likely the traveller would therefore be to find traces of '* shoddy " 
among her wealthy classes. 

Calumet avenue and its elegant rows of houses have already been 
referred to. East of that comes South Park avenue (formerly Kan- 
kakee avenue), which becomes the Grand Boulevard at Thirty-fifth 
street. This avenue is finely built for a few squares southward from 
Twenty-third street, and will doubtless ultimately be continued in 
first-class style clear to the Boulevard. We present a single Illustra- 
tion of the better style, in the dwelling of Mr. Bolton. 

Dearborn Street. — Passing west of State street, we come to Dear- 
born — a street which exists on both sides of the river, but which has 
no bridge or tunnel as yet. The architecture of this street had be- 
come greatly improved during the two years preceding the fire. The 
two years following that calamity have witnessed a still greater im- 
provement, insomuch that the average character of Dearborn street 
architecture, taking taste and quality both into the account, is behind 
that of no street in. Chicago. Fronts are ornate and almost endlessly 
varied; the chaste and stately Illinois marble being constantly con- 
trasted with mosaics of fancy bricks and tiles, with heavily relieved 
iron castings, with the sober red sandstone of Lake Superior (as in 
the " Tribune" building), with the rich and richly-carved Amherst 
sandstone (as in the Tremont hotel), with the bright yellow St. 
Genevieve sandstone alternating with the bright red Philadelphia 



-■ 



244 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



brick (as in Portland block), and with the " grand, gloomy and pecu- 
liar " gray of the Buena Vista sandstone, as it is beginning to appear 
in the new Post Office and Custom House. From the river to Mon- 
roe street there are now but two gaps unfilled along this street, ex- 
cepting the sound walls of the old Post Office, not yet rehabilitated, and 




Eli Bates's Residence. 



a small space opposite, to the south of the " Journal " building. From 
Jackson street south to Van Buren, the street is not yet fully opened, 
though the act was long since ordered by the City Council. Dearborn 
street is eminently an office street, there being little else but banks, 
real estate offices, newspaper establishments (the "Tribune," "Jour- 
nal " and " Post " among them), lawyers' offices and the like through- 
out its whole extent, south of Lake street. Values on Dearborn 
street, where land is vacant, will range from $10 to $25 per square 
foot. 

North Dearborn street is a residence thoroughfare of the first class, 






CLARK STREET. 



245 



the residences thus far built upon it being of a character to do honor 
to the most refined and wealthy city on the continent. The most of 
these have been erected during the season just passed. We present 
two eminently worthy examples, in the houses of Mr. Eli Bates and 
Mr. O. W. Potter. 

Clark Street. — Perhaps no thoroughfare in Chicago is better known 




O. W. Potter's Residence. 

than this. On it could always be found, in the days before the fire, 
more pedestrians than on any other street in the city ; and the rule 
applied for a distance of more than a mile on each side of the river. 
The street, therefore, abounded in retail shops, bazaars, saloons, etc. 
The same is true now, though in somewhat less degree. The re- 
builders of Clark street were if anything too ambitious, and cheap 
little shops are therefore less attainable than they were in the days 
of shanties and brick shells. With a general exception, however, in 



246 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



favor of a higher degree of style, the rule of the " pre-igneous period 
will apply to Clark street, north and south, now. Nine buildings in 
every ten of the new street have showy stone fronts ; and about a 
mile and a half of buildings have already been erected since the fire 
within the limits previously referred to. Among the most prominent 
of these buildings are the Sherman House, Pacific Hotel, Lakeside 




Bachelder Building. 



building, Reaper block, Ogden's building, and McCormick's and 
Kingsbury halls, the former of the^e, situated at the corner of Michi- 
gan street, north side, being the largest public hall in the city. It is on 
Clark street, also that the new Court House will have one of its prin- 
cipal fronts. Land on this thoroughfare, in the vicinity of Madison 
street or of any of the public buildings, is prized as high as $25 per 
square foot, whence it recedes to very moderate figures at the south 
end of the street, where railroads interfere with the traffic. On North 
Clark street, prices range from $200 to $1,000 per front foot. 

La Salle Street. — By means of its superb tunnel under the river. 



LA SALLE STREET. 



247 



sufficient to accommodate 50,000 vehicles and a million foot passen- 
gers per day, La Salle street is made an uninterrupted thoroughfare, 
stretching from its intersection with Clark street, opposite Lincoln 
Park, to its southern terminus at the Michigan Southern depot, on 
Van Buren street. North of the river, La Salle street is sought by 
the elite of the North Division for choice residence sites, its lots being 
of more generous dimensions than those of any other street there 




Pacific Hotel. 



except a portion of Dearborn. South of the river, it takes no inde- 
pendent character until Randolph street is reached, where it at once 
becomes the great exchange street of Chicago — its buildings being 
invariably of the first-class, and occupied by bankers, insurance bro- 
kers, grain brokers, real estate dealers and the like. The Chamber 
of Commerce fronts on Washington street, but gives the key note to 
the business of La Salle street, along which its greater dimension 
extends. The Pacific Hotel has its west front upon this street. The 
street is already built up solidly, in the manner hinted, to Monroe 
street, and the next revival of the building fever will leave not a foot 
uncovered until the southern terminus of the street is reached. 
The architecture is rich, though not ornate, including the two best 



248 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

built office structures in the city — Gallup & Peabody's building and 
W. K. Nixon's building, located at Madison and Monroe streets res- 
pectively. The former was built at an expense of $50 for every 
square foot covered, or $200,000 in all. Other fine structures are 
the Merchants Bank building, diagonally opposite the Chamber of 
Commerce, the State Savings Bank building, opposite the Court 
House square, the Union Bank building, Major block, and Metro- 
politan block. The price of land on La Salle street has never been 
fixed above $18 per square foot, though some of it is earning in- 
terest on $77 per square foot, with almost an absolute certainty of 
its continuance. 

Fifth Avenue. — Next west of La Salle street is Fifth avenue, for- 
merly called Wells street, a title under which it acquired a reputation 
which has now been shaken off along with the name to which it was 
attached. Fifth avenue reaches from Lincoln Park to a point where 
it strikes a bend in the South Branch, near Taylor street. North of 
the river, it is devoted mainly to retail trade, the Germans being the 
predominating race among the shopkeepers. South of the river the 
traffic is in a somewhat transitory state, inclining more to jobbing 
trade than anything else. Upon this street, as well as upon Wash- 
ington street, the " Times " and " Staats Zeitung" buildings have a 
front, the former being a remarkably complete newspaper building, 
already rivaling any similar establishment in the world in the extent 
of its facilities for the speedy production of large daily editions, 
and promising to excel all, without exception, when the addition now 
in progress is completed, rendering the whole structure 180x80 in 
size, three entire floors of which are devoted to the editing, printing 
and mailing of the " Times' " enormous daily edition. Fifth avenue 
is rebuilt, chiefly in a very thorough manner, with showy stone fronts 
to an extent equivalent to two-thirds of the entire frontage from the 
river south to Adams street. The maximum price of inside busi- 
ness lots on Fifth avenue is $1,000 per front foot. 

Franklin Street. — This street, from the river south to Madison 
street, where it terminates, is mostly rebuilt with four and five story 
buildings, used as wholesale warehouses. 

Market Street — Is short, and would not be mentioned except that 
it ends the list of north and south streets east of the south branch 
of the river. It expands to a width of 200 feet between Randolph 
and Madison street, at the corner of which latter street stands the 
immense wholesale warehouse of Messrs. Field, Leiter & Co. 



SOUTH WATER STREET. 



249 



— a building six stories high, and 190x290 feet in ground dimen- 
sions. 

South Water Street. — We come now to east and west business 
streets, of which South Water, Lake, Randolph, Washington and 
Madison are the principal. South Water street, running from the 
grounds of the Illinois Central Railway to the South Branch of the 




l> Air - Line " Elevator 



river, is, with River street, which branches off from it northeastwardly 
at Wabash Avenue, devoted to traffic in heavy and crude articles 
— chiefly produce, shipping stores, railway supplies and coarse gro- 
ceries. Both streets have been solidly rebuilt since the fire, in a 
style much superior to the old, and all the stores are occupied. The 
ideas of South Water street merchants relative to rents are so firmly 
fixed, at figures not exceeding (say) $5,000 per annum, for a first- 
rate 25-feet store, five stories high; that the price of land has net yet 
sprung up to ante-fire figures along this thoroughfare. One thous- 
and dollars per foot, would be considered a very high figure ; and 



250 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

some lots less eligible than most, have gone for $500 per foot within 
a year. As happens on most other thoroughfares in Chicago, the 
selling price falls far short of the capitalized value of the rentals. 

Lake Street. — This was once the street of Chicago. It is now ? 
although a long thoroughfare, and the site of a well-defined line of 
trade (which has not yet swelled to such proportions as to demand 
all the space the street affords ), less frequented and less patronized 
than any one of a half dozen Chicago thoroughfares. Its specialty, 
east of the river, is heavy wholesale trade — leather, iron, tobacco, 
specialties, etc. Toward the lake it is exceedingly well rebuilt, most- 
ly in handsome stone fronts, among which the elegant north fagad e 
of the Tremont House is facile princeps. Other Lake street buildings 
have been mentioned in connection with other avenues upon which 
they also front. The Marine Bank building presents a showy front 
in Athens' marble, which is also the material of Mr. Walter's build- 
ing, on the northeast corner of Clark street, near by. The " Inter- 
Ocean," one of the three great morning dailies for which Chicago is 
distinguished, occupies most attractive apartments in a building which 
faces north upon Lake street, east of Clark. 

West of the river, Lake street is occupied for two or three squares' 
distance by produce commission houses, after which, third-rate 
shops to Ann street, then dwellings past Union Park, and thence on- 
ward a better class of retail stores, interspersed with occasional 
dwellings, to Western avenue. To that point ( three miles ) the 
street is well paved and sewered. 

The maximum price for unoccupied land on Lake street, outside 
of a small district near the Central Depot and the Tremont House, 
cannot be more than $1,250 per foot front, and the market is slow. 
Owing to the fact already cited, more than an adequate supply of 
buildings for the class of trade that has been assigned to this street. 

Randolph Street — Has not been content with fulfilling its former 
mission of ministering to the wants of the retail trade. Not only 
have the first two squares from the eastern terminus been taken up 
by stately jobbing warehouses, but the same class of buildings has 
extended itself far westward, leaving no place for any small shop- 
keeper other than an occasional barber or restaurateur to obtain a 
foothold. Of the notable buildings of before the fire, the Sherman 
House is supplanted by another Sherman House, one story higher 
and much more elegant, (as witness, the accompanying cut.) 

That old landmark, Wood's Museum, quartered in the worst of 



RANDOLPH STREET. 



25 1 



rookeries, is no more ; but a stone's throw farther west one may step 
into Hooley's Theatre — a play-house unexcelled on the continent in 
the beauty and convenience of its interior, and also of most pleasing 
outside appearance. The Fidelity Savings Bank building, adjoining 
the theatre, ( and both are opposite the Court House square ) is one 
of the other architectural beauties of the street. From Fifth avenue 




Sherman House 



westward to the river, Randolph street is about half rebuilt, the work 
of the present season being by no means inconsiderable in this neigh- 
borhood. West of the river, to where, at Union Park, it loses itself 
in Bryan Place, there is nothing to distinguish Randolph from any 
other respectable horse-railway street. Prices range upward as high 
as $1,200 to $1,400 per front foot, east of LaSalle, dropping to 
$1,000 or $1,100 between that and the river. 

Washington Street — Is a thoroughfare of which the new Chicago 
may well feel profoundly proud. No better built thoroughfare than 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

this is for a distance something over half a mile, exists on this con- 

inent It may properly be called the Wall street of Chicago, since 

has, within a distance of three squares, no less than seventeen 

tanks and a chamber of commerce. Upon this fine avenue front 

the massive Singer building (Field, Leiter & Go's retail store), the 




COLEIIOUR BUII.DIXC,. 

fine edifices of the First National, the Merchant's National, and the 
Union National banks; Portland block, Kendall block, the Metho- 
dist Church block, and a remarkably beautiful series of varied facades 
which, with these two, fill up the space fronting north between Dear- 
torn and Clark streets; the Reaper block of C. H. McCormick, a 
high towering, colonnaded structure, with Mansard roof- the Cham- 
of Commerce; the "Times," and » Staats Zeitung " buildings -the 
latter a six-story structure, profusely ornamented with colossal stat- 



WASHINGTON STREET. 



255 



uary; Mr. Olinger's Washington block, etc., etc. And upon this 
street, faced everywhere by architecture worthy of the situation, will 
stand one front of the proposed Court House and City Hall — an edi- 
fice upon which it is purposed to spend five or six millions of dollars 
within the next three years. 

Washington street crosses the South Branch by means of a tunnel 




First Congregational Church, cor. Washington and Ann Streets. 

— the first ever built in Chicago. For a mile west of the river the 
condition of the street is not well defined at present. About a third 
of a mile is taken up by manufactures, and beyond that is a resi- 
dence quarter which has been among the finest in the city — is still 
so after reaching May street, or thereabonts. Washington street is 
interrupted by Union Park, but resumes its course at Ashland ave- 
nue, and extends thence to Central Park, being almost wholly occu- 
pied with elegant detached residences or stylish rows, as far out 
as Western avenue. 

On Washington street, anywhere east of Fifth avenue, land is 




w 

W 

i> 

i— i 

X 
in 
<; 



MADISON STREET. 255 

worth $20 per square foot ; while corner lots, if in the market, 
would command a higher figure. The choice residence lots either 
•side of Union Park bring from $200 to $300 per front foot. 

Madison Street. — The importance of this thoroughfare has been 
greatly heightened by the fire and the train of events which followed 
in its course. Being already the best appointed shop thoroughfare 
of the West Division, it was, immediately after the disaster, impetu- 
ously taken possession of by a thousand enterprising dealers in addi- 
tion to those already occupying it ; and, as four-fifths of the entire 
population of the city were forced to pass the winter in the West 
Division, West Madison street soon became densely thronged from 
morning until night. And as it came to be generally accepted, about 
the same time, that there was to be a slight acceleration of the south- 
ward movement of trade, as a result of the fire, there was a marked 
tendency of business located on streets farther north to get on Mad- 
ison, as the great street car thoroughfare between the West and South 
Divisions. As a consequence, Madison is now the most thoroughly 
occupied street east of the river. Its uses are of endless variety, like 
those of Broadway in New York, or Chestnut street in Philadelphia. 
Near the river, and again near Wabash avenue, it is occupied by the 
largest jobbing houses in their respective lines — as Keith. Brothers, 
hats, caps, and straw goods ; Field, Leiter & Co., dry goods ; C. P. 
Kellogg & Co., clothing; and C. M. Henderson & Co., boots and 
shoes — all situated near the river. Between the points named there 
are a great many jobbing stores ; those in paper stock and stationery 
being clustered between Clark and Dearborn ; a great many large 
retail stores in clothing, jewelry, and other lines; a great many 
offices, and several banks ; one theatre — McVicker's — the largest in 
town ; and other concomitants, too numerous to mention, of a great 
popular thoroughfare. 

Very little land on Madison street has changed hands of late, to 
afford an index of prices. Rentals would easily justify $20 per 
square foot, and in one case — a peculiar one, however, in which two 
street fronts were afforded — a sale has been made at $25 per square 
foot ; and in another case — a very small corner lot — $33 per square 
foot. This last is, we believe, the highest price at which any entire 
building lot has ever been sold in Chicago. 

Ashland Avenue. — Foremost among the fancy residence thorough- 
fares of the West Division of the city, at least when reckoned by its 
future as well as its present, stands Ashland avenue, from Union 



256 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Park south to Twelfth street. The street is laid out one hundred 
feet wide, as follows : Roadway fifty feet, and twenty-five feet of area 
on each side, eight feet of which is sidewalk and seventeen feet grass 
plat. In the center of the grass plats on each side have been planted 
large elm trees at intervals of forty feet and extending south to 
Twelfth street, on each side of the avenue. They vary from twelve 




S. J. Walker's Residence. 



to eighteen inches in diameter of trunk, and average a height of 
sixty feet. The expense of the trees and planting has been $26,000. 
At intervals of 150 feet on each side, also on line of the center of the 
grass plats, are set very large rustic flower vases. The street is 
graded, macadamized, and gravelled from Madison street south to 
Twelfth street — a distance of just a mile of most magnificent drive- 
way. The sidewalks are all to be uniform and laid in flag-stones, 
though in some places temporary wooden walks are down now. 
Beside this, there is a stipulated building line of twenty-five feet, 
giving fifty feet of grass plat on each side of the street. The build- 



DESCRIPTION OF BUILDINGS. 257 

ing line is stipulated in every deed made since the improvement in 
1869, and the restriction extends fifteen years. 

This splendid avenue has no equal anywhere for symmetry, uni- 
formity and breadth. Mr. Saml. J. Walker, who owns a vast amount 
of frontage, and to whom the avenue is chiefly indebted for its pres- 
ent magnificent appearance, made the first building improvement on 
the street in 1864. This consisted of the erection of six fine brick 
houses, on different corners; and in 1868 twenty fine marble front 
houses were added by him, and thus in four years from the building 
of the first house it had become an avenue of palaces, and all this 
through the means of but one of Chicago's many princely capital- 
ists. On this avenue, south of Madison street and fronting east, 
stands St. John's Episcopal Church, an edifice which, when com- 
pleted, will cost $150,000, and will have no superior in the city. In 
the same vicinity — that is, north of Monroe street — are the elegant 
residences of Judge Rogers, Mr. P. C. Maynard, Mr. D. F. Cameron, 
Mr. George Bartlett, Rev. Dr. Kittridge, Judge S. M. Moore, and 
Mr. George Bryan. South of Monroe street, where the most 
building is now being done, stand the residences of General 
B. H. Campbell, Mr. O. Cronkhite, Mr. S. N. Wilcox, (in progress, 
to cost $150,000), Mr. Henry Greenebaum, Mr. M. D. Buchanan, 
Mr. S. D. Kreigh, Mr. S. J. Walker, Mr. Henry Waller, Hon. Carter 
H. Harrison, Mr. Geo. W. Stanford, Mr. True, Hon. J. D. Ward, 
M. C, Mr. E. C. Waller, Mr. John Lewis, Mr. Richard Edwards, 
and others. Property unoccupied along this avenue, from Madison 
to Harrison streets, brings about $250 per front foot ; south of that 
somewhat less. 



EXPLANATION. 

Subjoined are to be found descriptions of some of the edifices illustrated in tbe foregoing 
chapter, and which it was not practicable, consistently with the plan of the chapter, to 
describe in detail in the text. 

SPRINGER BUILDING. 

(See illustration, x>age 235 J 

This beautiful block occupies the southwest corner of State and Randolph streets, and 
was erected by Geo. A. Springer, Esq. It is calculated both for offices and stores. The fronts 
are built in Athens limestone and Cleveland sandstone cappings. The structure fronts 107 feet 
on State, and 95 feet on Randolph street. The two handsome entrances are done in Cleveland 
stone, with angle columns of Lake Superior red sandstone. The office entrance is on State 
street, the stairway being placed between two walls faced with red brick. This is of a massive 
and tasty design. The block is four stories and a high basement in height. The general 
style of architecture is Veronese Gothic, and this was the first building erected in this city 
with cornices, chimnies and gables entirely of terra-cotta. These are backed with brick, and 
a parapet wall is carried two feet above the roof. The entablature containing the owner's 
name, seen at the corner of the building, was modeled entirely by hand, cut into bricks and 

1/ 



25« 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



baked, and then placed in the building, It is thus much more perfect than if moulded in the 
usual way. The offices are finished in black walnut, and heated with two hot water furnaces. 
This manner of heating is adopted in no other building in the city. The basement and first 
floor have very fine vaults, one of which is made very large for jewelers' purposes, The build- 
ing cost $70,000, and with the site is worth $270,000. 

THE FINE ART INSTITUTE. 

(See illustration^ page 237. ) 

The Schureman & Hand Marble Mantel Co. have erected, at the southwest corner of 
Michigan avenue and West Van Buren street, the substantial building shown on page 237, for 
the purposes of carrying on their business, and of a hall for the display of paintings and 
statuary. The company occupy the basement for a working room, and the first floor as an 
office and salesroom. The first floor is raised nearly the whole of its depth, the low space 
in front being filled by samples of the company's work. Windows situated in the wall, caused 
by the rise in the floor, show scores of busy workmen smoothing, sawing and cutting in the 
basement. The second floor is occupied by the Lake Shore Art Gallery of Mr. Aitken, and 
the third by artists' studios. In rear of the Gallery is a store-room for the stock of the firm. 
The facade of the building is modern in style. The structure overlooks Lake Park. 

RESIDENCE OF MR. GEO. A. SPRINGER. 

{See illustration, page 239.) 

Mr. George A. Springer, one of Chicago's earlier settlers, and a man largely interested in 
property south of the city limits, owns the excellent homestead, represented in the cut, at the 
corner of Prairie avenue and Thirty-ninth street, situated at the point where the first-named 
street jogs to the east, thus placing Mr. Springer's lot and residence at the head of and over- 
looking that splendidly-finished thoroughfare. The residence is a very large two story frame, 
with Mansard story; a massive porch on the west side, where the main entrance is, and bay 
-windows on the north and south sides. The interior arrangement and furnishing are on a 
style of liberal expenditure proportionate with the wealth of the proprietor. The grounds are 
very large and handsomely laid out with asphalt walks, which alone cost $6,000. A number 
of handsome shade trees are scattered through the lot, besides many shrubs and evergreens, 
flower vases, etc. The whole is surrounded by a high picket fence. Two rows of shade trees 
are planted in front, and excellent sidewalks are provided. The situation of Mr. Springer's 
place is the finest of any in this neighborhood, and for a genuine look of comfort and good 
taste it is equalled by few in the city. The improvements are worth $30,000, and the site, an 
entire block, is worth $125 per foot, making the total value of the property $120,000. 

RESIDENCE" OF MR. JAMES BOLTON. 

(See illustration, page 240.) 

The above superb residence is the home of James Bolton, Esq., General Agent Singer Man- 
ufacturing Co. Its location is on the northeast corner of South Park avenue and Twenty-fourth 
street. It is a stone front, two stories and basement, anu Mansard roof. The bay projection, 
Been on the south side is very handsome, of liberal size, and adds greatly to the general sym- 
metry of this beautiful structure. The Mansard roof and observatory are constructed and 
finished in the very best manner possible. The steps to the entrance, window caps, cornices 
and basement work are massively and excellently put in, and the whole structure may be 
truthfully called first-class, elegant and symmetrical in every particular. The cut is a faithful 
one, and discloses all that is claimed above and much more. The large and handsome grounds 
and improvements make the homestead worth from $10,000 to $75,000. 

RESIDENCE OF MR. LOUIS WAHL. 

(See illustration page 242.) 

This superb mansion is situated on Prairie avenue, between Twentieth and Twenty-first 
streets, fronting towards the lake, of which a fine view is had from the front windows. The 
structure was begun in March, 1871, and finished in June, 1873. It stands upon a lot embrac- 
ing 113 feet of ground, which has been converted into a splendid graded lawn. The building is 
a basement, two full stories and a Mansard story, in height, with front and side walls of 
Cleveland sandstone. It has two octagon windows in front, and one on the south side, a fea- 
ture which is carried to the Mansard roof. The roof is covered with variegated slate, and sur- 
rounded by Corinthian dormers of elegant pattern. This roof is capped by ornamented iron 
work. The dimensions are 56x90 feet. Inside the basement, which is finished in oiled black 
walnut and ash ; the first floor in black walnut and French walnut veneering, elaborately fin- 
ished. The frescoing in parlor, sitting room and library is beautiful in the extreme. This 
frescoing was done under the personal supervision of Mrs. Wahl, as was also the forty thou- 
sand dollars worth of wood work in the house. It is one of the most expensive and elabo- 
rately finished dwellings in Chicago. A two-story barn and an extensive grapery stand on 
the rear portion of the lot. The improvements cost $105,000, and with the lot are worth 
$160,000. Mr Wahl's total investment on the property and furnishing is about $200,000. 



DESCRIPTION OF BUILDINGS. 259 

RESIDENCE OF MR. ELI BATES. 

(See illustration, page 244J 

Mr. Bates, the senior member of one of the largest lumber firms of the Northwest, has 
erected upon the northeast corner of North Dearborn and Schiller streets, the beautiful resi- 
dence of which the cut printed on a preceding page is an illustration. The design is quite 
original as well as very aristocratic. The material used in the outer walls is the Philadelphia 
pressed brick, which is by far the smoothest and nicest of any manufactured. The building- 
is two stories with hip roof of slate. The arrangement of the verandas adds as much to the 
appearance as to the convenience of the building. On the east and south sides are projecting 
bay windows, running the full height of the house, terminating in a cone shaped roof with 
ornamental finial. The apex of the roof is ornamented by a handsome pattern of iron cast- 
ing. The Avails of the structure are embellished with belts of Minturn tile, cornice and cap- 
pings of stone. The interior is thoroughly modern in arrangement and improvements intro- 
duced. The rooms are of liberal size and constructed on true principles of convenience and 
comfort. All the finishing is in hard wood and bronze. The house and improvements cost 
$50,000; with the groundslhey are worth $100,000. 

c 

RESIDENCE OF MR. O. W. POTTER. 

(See illustration, page 245. J 

The fine residence of O. W. Potter, Esq., President of the North Chicago Rolling Mill 
Co., is situated at the northwest corner of Dearborn and Schiller streets on a large lot hand- 
somely improved. The dwelling is of Milwaukee brick, with neat stone trimmings, is 43 feet 
front by 07 feet deep, two story and basement and full Mansard story. The plan as seen in the 
cut will at once give an impression of the originality and good taste observed in the form of 
the structure. Verandas heavily built are a feature of the side and rear of the building. The 
observatory is 14 feet square and rises 18 feet above the roof, culminating in a sharp cone. 
Around this at the eaves is a handsome iron railing. The inside of the dwelling is superbly 
finished in black walnut and ash, ten inches in architrave and twelve inches in basis at all the 
openings. The main stairway is a curb string running from the rear of the hall to second 
floor with well rail around it supported by solid bronze brackets. It is one of the hand- 
somest and costliest stairways in the city. On the first floor are the grand parlors, dining 
room, family sit eping room, kitchen, etc. The second floor is divided into five large cham- 
bers with closets, bath rooms, etc., to each. On the third floor are four chambers and a 
dancing hall 18x40 feet. All the ceilings are paneled with heavy cornices, finished with gilt 
mouldings. All the door and window trimmings are in solid bronze. The barn corresponds 
with the house in shape and finish. The improvements estimated at $55,C0O, and the 100 foot 
lot at $250, per foot, make Mr. Potter's homestead worth $80,000. 

• 
BACHELDER BUILDING. 

( See\illustration, page'i%46.j 

This. structure, recently completed, is situated at the southeast corner of Pandolph and 
Clark streets. It was erected for G. L. Batcheldtr, John Whiting and John H.. Kedzie, after 
plans by J. H. Edbrooke, architect. Its fronts are composed of iron and manufactured stone 
from a prominent firm in this city. The building is designed for office purposes, is a base- 
ment and four stories high, with full Mansard story, and presents, as will be seen by the illus- 
tration, a very handsome exterior. It is intended to be strictly fire-proof. All the frame 
work of the Mansard roof is of iron, covered with heavy wire cloth, which is plastered with 
cement mortar and covered with slate wired on with copper wire. The basement and first 
floor, and all the doorways, cornices, etc., are entirely of iron. The interior arrangements 
are most excellent in design and in the character of the finish. The main entrance at the 
corner is a beautiful feature of the block. The massive stone steps are railed with heavy 
silver plated bars surmounted by splendid pedestal lamps. The entrance is between Corin- 
thian columns in relief, through exquisitely carved doors. Some of the plates in the windows 
are seven feet high by nine feet wide. Vaults are provided throughout the building, and spa- 
cious halls lead by the doors of all the rooms. The building cost $90,000. 

THE COLEHOUR BUILDING. 

( See illustration, page 252^. 

This block stands just east of the Chamber of Commerce, from which it is separated only 
by a paved court. It is in every way worthy of its location near that splendid structure. It has 
a frontage on Washington street, of 90 feet, and extends back 182 feet to the alley. The archi- 
tecture is Renaissance. The fronts of the basement are in Bnena Vista sandstone, very mas- 
sive, and the four other stories in Columbia sandstone. It is strictly a banking and office 
building, being, with the exception of a hall in the rear portion 60 x 108 feet with 40 feet to 
ceiling, arranged entirely for these purposes from foundation to roof. There are four large 
banking offices on the basement and first floors. The offices are of different sizes, to be 
elegantly and expensively finished in hard wood. Vaults, accessible to all the rooms, run 
from the basement to the fourth floor. Spacious halls extend at right angles through the 
building. At their intersection will be a commodious elevator. The structure will bring more 



260 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



rent per square foot than any other in 'the city on account of its having the best location. 
There is nothing gaudy or showy in its construction ; but its symmetrical proportions and 
massive plan will make it all the more pleasing and desirable, and in some degree like the 
beautiful facades of its next neighbor. It will have cost, when completed, $160,000. 

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

( See illustration, page %5Z. ) 

. This handsome edifice stands at the corner of West Washington and Ann streets. It cost 
to build it $160,000, and its reconstruction on the old plan, after it was burned last winter, has 
caused a large additional outlay, as everything but the walls went down in the flames. It is 
built in the form of a cross, of heavy hewn stone. The porches over the various entrances are 
built low, in strictly Gothic style. It is arranged inside into auditorium, galleries, parlors, 
choir and pastors rooms, etc., after the most modern plans of church architecture, the plan 
being purely amphitheatrical. 



RESIDENCE OF MR. S. J. WALKER. 

{See illustration, page 256.) 

At the southwest corner of Jackson street and Ashland avenue is located the very large 
and handsome brick mansion of S. J. Walker, the man who has chiefly made that splendid 
thoroughfare. The lot on which the house stands is 262 feet front upon the avenue, and the 
grounds are arranged with a taste and beauty unexcelled anywhere. The whole surface 
around the mansion is covered with a fine thrifty growth of trees and shrubbery, adorued with 
fine relic monuments, rustic seats, flower vases, and beds and lawns, surrounded by a hand- 
some stone fence, bordering which is a pretty row of young trees. The house has a spacious 
veranda in front, a smaller porch at the south side, and a fine bay window wedged between 
two short porches on the north side. Its arrangement and furnishing are elegant and fashion- 
able. The property is worth $90,000. 



CHICAGO NEWSPAPERS. 



The Organs and Moulders of Public Opinion in the Northwest — From what Little 
Acorns Great Journalistic Oak's have Grown — Plain Histories of the Chicago 
" Tribune," " Times," " Inter-Ocean," " Staats Zeitung," "Journal," " Post," 
and " Mail." 



IT has been thought de sirable, by the publisher of this book, to 
add to the foregoing matter a sketch of the histories of the daily- 
journals of Chicago, accompanied by engravings of the buildings oc- 
cupied and in the case of the " Times," " Tribune," " Inter-Ocean," 
" Staats Zeitung," and " Journal," owned by the proprietors of those 
concerns. This the author has done with diffidence, the time at his 
command at this stage of the work being altogether inadequate to do 
justice to the subject. This difficulty has been got over by giving 
the bare, plain incidents of the history of each newspaper, with 
scarcely any alteration from the notes which were kindly furnished 
from each journalistic head-quarters. 

The Tribune. — The first number of the " Chicago Daily Tribune " 
was printed Thursday, July ioth, 1847. It began its existence in 
the third story of a building on the corner of Lake and LaSalle 
streets, one room doing duty as counting room, editorial sanctum 
and printing office. Its originators were James Kelly, afterwards a 
leather dealer in this city, John E. Wheeler, and J. K. C. Forrest. 
Mr. Kelly was then the owner of a weekly literary paper, called the 
Gem of the Prairie, and it was his idea to publish a daily from which 
he could make up his weekly. The name of Tribune was suggested 
by Mr. Forrest and agreed to by Mr. Wheeler, who had been on the 
New York paper of the same name. The first edition issued num- 
bered four hundred copies, worked off on a Washington hand-press, 
one of the proprietors being pressman. Politically, it was inde- 
pendent, but with Free Soil proclivities. 

July 24th, Mr. Kelly, owing to sickness, severed his connection 
with the paper, and sold out to Thomas A. Stewart, who remained 
in for seven years. September 27th, Mr. Forrest dissolved his con 




"Chicago Tribune" Building. 



NEWSPAPERS OF CHICAGO. 263 

nection, and Messrs. Wheeler & Stewart remained proprietors, the 
former being the editor. August 23d, 1848, John L. Scripps purchased 
a third interest in the concern, and the firm name was changed to 
Wheeler, Stewart & Scripps. 

May 12th, 1849, the Tribune office was for the first time destroyed 
by fire, but publication was resumed on the 14th, over a grocery 
store, then situated on the northeast corner of Clark and Randolph 
streets. June 4th, it removed to the northwest corner of Lake and 
Clark streets ; and in May, 1850, it removed to the second floor of 
the old Masonic Building, No. 173 Lake street. The following 
month the paper was enlarged, and its dimensions were 26 by 40. 
At this time the daily circulation was 1,120. 

July 1st, 185 1, Mr. John E. Wheeler withdrew, after disposing of 
his interest to Thomas J. Waite, who assumed the business manage- 
ment of the concern. The following June, Mr. Scripps sold his in- 
terest to a number of leading Whigs, acting in behalf of General 
William Duane Wilson, afterwards of Iowa. Mr. Wilson became 
editor, and the paper, previously Free Soil, supported General Scott 
for president. Mr. Waite was the publisher, and the firm was named 
Waite & Co. At this time the paper was enlarged to be 28 by 44, 
and was published in the morning instead of the afternoon. 

Mr. Waite died August 26th, 1852, and the following October, Mr. 
Henry Fowler purchased the interest of his (Waite's) heirs, and became 
publisher and associate editor. March 23d, 1853, General Wilson sold 
out his interest to Henry Fowler & Co., the means being supplied 
by Timothy Wright and General J. D. Webster, who were silent 
partners. January 1st, 1855, the paper was still further enlarged, 
being 31 by 50 inches. June 18th of that year, Timothy Wright 
assumed a general partnership, and Joseph Medill, of Cleveland, 
purchased an interest, the firm becoming Wright, Medill & Co. At 
this time, the size was reduced to 30 by 46 inches. 

T. A. Stewart sold out his interest to his associates, July 21st, 1855. 
September 23d, Dr. C. H. Ray and J. C. Vaughan were announced 
as editors, and Mr. Alfred Cowles was taken into the firm ; the pro- 
prietors were then Timothy Wright, J. D. Webster, Dr. Ray, Joseph 
Medill, John C. Vaughan and Alfred Cowles. March 26th, 1857, 
Mr. Vaughan withdrew, and the title of the firm became Ray, Medill 
& Co., which it remained until July 1st, 1858, when the Tribune and 
Democratic Press were consolidated. 

The Democratic Press was first issued September 16th, 1852, by 



264 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

John L. Scripps and William Bross, as a strictly Democratic paper. 
It was published at No. 45 S. Clark street. After the passage of the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, it left the party to which it had belonged. 
September, 1854, Barton M. Spears purchased an interest in the 
paper. 

After the consolidation, the proprietors were Messrs. Ray, Medill, 
Cowles, Scripps, Bross and Spears. The title of the paper became the 
Press 6° Tribune, and it was published at No. 45 Clark street. No- 
vember 8th, 1858, the paper became financially embarrassed, but ob- 
' tained an extension from its creditors. At this time, Mr. Spears 
left the firm. Mr. Cowles assumed charge of the finances of the 
concern, and soon after the office was removed to the old location at 

9 

No. 51 Clark street. October 25th, 1861, the word "Press" was 
dropped out, and the title remained simply " Chicago Tribune." 
During the winter of 1861, the Tribune Company was incorporated 
by the Legislature, with a capital of $200,000, and William H. Rand 
became one of the stockholders. In November, 1863, Dr. Ray [re- 
tired, and Joseph Medill became editorial superintendent. In 1866 
Mr. Medill resigned the editorship, and Horace White, purchasing 
an interest in the paper, became editorial superintendent, a position 
he has since retained. In March, 1870, Mr. Rand sold out, and the 
chief stockholders at the present time are Messrs. Cowles, White, 
Bross and Medill. 

The Tribune had long outgrown the dark and inconvenient quar- 
ters on Clark street, where it had remained for so many years, and 
finally, on the 30th of April, 1869, it removed to the new building 
on the southeast corner of Madison and Dearborn streets. This 
edifice, which was looked upon as one of the first really fire-proof 
structures erected in Chicago, was built of Joliet marble, was four 
stories in height, exclusive of the basement, and cost $225,000. It 
occupied the same ground as its successor, fronting 72 feet on Dear- 
born and 121 on Madison. The paper, which had in 1847 been 
printed on a hand-press, had so increased in size and circulation that 
upon removing to the new building it was found necessary to pur- 
chase a second eight-cylinder Hoe press, the first having been bought 
in 1864. 

The fire of 187 1 drove the Tribune from these comfortable quar- 
ters. The day afterwards, however, temporary quarters were secured 
at No. 15 South Canal street, and the publication of the paper was re- 
sumed there. For the first day it published only a half-sheet, but 



NEWSPAPERS OF CHICAGO. 265 

the size was increased as paper and press facilities could be secured. 
October 9th, 1872, the day of the anniversary of the fire, the Tribune 
returned to its present abode at the corner of Dearborn and Madison 
streets, where a new building had been erected at a cost of $250,000, 
with the intention of making it absolutely fire-proof. It is five stories 
in height, exclusive of the basement, and is built of Lake Superior 
sandstone. At the time of removing from Canal street, the Tribune 
was changed to an eight-page paper. 

In i860 and 1864 the Tribune supported Mr. Lincoln, and in 1868 
General Grant ; while last year it renounced its party allegiance, be- 
came an independent paper, and supported Mr. Greeley for president. 

As a general newspaper, the Tribune has few equals. The Philadel- 
phia Press, in remarking upon a recent issue, stated editorially that 
" The Chicago Tribune, of the day mentioned, in all its features, 
news, editorial, literary and local, was probably the best paper ever 
issued from the American press." 

There are two parties to this question, it being the habit of many 
Chicagoans to prefer the " Times," or even some other of the local 
dailies, as a medium of news and of thoroughly independent edito- 
rial opinion. All, however, concede to the " Tribune " great breadth 
of influence and great wealth — its annual income being usually 
$200,000 or upward, which is ten per cent, on a valuation of a mil- 
lion and a half dollars. 

The Times. — The history of the "Chicago Times" has been in 
consonance with its well known character as an aggressive, progres- 
sive, combative, incisive, active journal, with a passion for news, 
and a knack of getting it which enabled " The Times " to snap its 
fingers'at the opinions of Mrs. Grundy, and especially so when Mrs. 
G.'s only title to enforce her voice was a place on the managing 
committee of some political party. In other words, the history of 
"The Times " up to about 1863, when Gen. Burnside suppressed a 
few issues of it for alleged disloyalty, and immediately after which it 
entered upon a new career of success, has been a history of strife 
and buffetings and manifold vicissitudes. 

" The Times," or rather the paper out of which it grew, had its 
origin in June, 1854, in the necessities of the Douglas, or Missouri, 
Compromise Repeal party, for an organ in Chicago, the two Demo- 
cratic dailies in the city having both taken the free-soil chute. 

The paper, as founded, consisted of the debris of " The Courant," 
a little evening paper printed by Daniel Cameron for Duane Wilson, 




" Chicago Times " Building. 



NEWSPAPERS OF CHICAGO. 267 

and virtually owned by Cameron when settlement day came around. 
The good will and material of this concern were bought by Isaac 
Cook, then a noted political fugler, and partisan of the " Little 
Giant," and one Edward I. Patterson, who was to be the fulminator 
of editorial thunder of the concern. His thunder proved of poor 
quality, however, and James W. Sheahan (now writing on " The 
Tribune ") was imported from Washington, on Douglas' recommenda- 
tion, to be the editor. 'jThe proprietorial firm then became Cook, 
Cameron & Sheahan. 

Up to the time of Sheahan's arrival, which happened a few weeks 
after the inception of the enterprise, the new organ had been called 
" Young America." It was baptized thus in honor of a gorgeous and 
widely famous whisky-shop, owned by Cook, and standing on Lake 
street, opposite the Tremont House. This festive name was thrown 
aside on the installment of Sheahan as editor, and " The Times ' 
adopted as the future title of the paper. 

In the spring of 1855, the Know Nothing excitement, which "The 
Times " warred against, culminated in Chicago in the Lager Beer 
Riots, in which the foreign element was the aggressive party. At 
the expiration of the term of the mayor then holding, Mr. Cook's 
candidate (before the caucus was held) was Morgan L. Keith, who 
represented the " bummer " element. Mr. Sheahan, inspired by 
Douglas, opposed such a nomination, and favored Thomas Dyer, 
who was ultimately elected. 

This feud went so far as to result in the attempted induction, by 
Cook, of an editor in Sheahan's place — a Col. R. B. Carpenter, a 
rabid Southern fire-eater, who afterwards figured as a Secessionist. 

Of course this "house divided against itself" could not stand 
without the withdrawal of one of the belligerent parties. The one 
to withdraw was Cook, whose interest the other partners, with the 
assistance of Col. Hamilton, then bought out. 

Now commences a period in the history of this newspaper which 
has nothing in common with that which precedes it except the bare 
name "Times." In June, 1861, the concern was purchased by its 
present sole proprietor, Mr. Wilbur F. Storey, under whom it has 
achieved its present enormous circulation, hardly excelled by that of 
the best of the great New York dailies, and its corresponding power 
and the magnitude of its material outfit. Since the date mentioned 
the paper has been edited, managed, and (with the slight exceptions 
noted below) owned solely by Mr. Storey, who has actively directed 



268 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

to a degree otherwise unknown in the history of great metropolitan 
dailies, all the details, financial, editorial and mechanical, of his im- 
mense establishment. 

Mr. Storey came from Michigan. He found " The Times " in the 
condition above noted — a small folio sheet, with a most wretched 
outfit, and a circulation not over 3,000. It now has a building which, 
with its machinery and site, cost $500,000, and an increasing annual 
income which passed the figure of $100,000 some years ago. 

In the summer of 1862, Mr. Storey took in Mr. A. Worden as busi- 
ness manager, to whom he assigned a small interest. This relation 
continued until the 1st of July, 1865, when, having bought Worden 
out, the proprietor transferred the same interest to Mr. H. B. Chand- 
ler, who held it until the first of October, 1870. Since that date 
Mr. Storey has had no partner. 

The Inter-Ocean. — The " Inter-Ocean " is little more than a year 
and a half old, its first number having been issued on the 25th day 
of March, 1872. It was founded on the ruins of the " Republican," 
a journal which passed through various vicissitudes of ill-fortune 
until its sole remaining possession of any marketable value was its 
associated press franchise. This was purchased by the Hon. J. 
Young Scammon, and the "Inter-Ocean," with the " Republican " 
subscription list of less than two hundred, made its first appearance. 
The cause assigned by the proprietor for the establishment of the 
" Inter-Ocean " was the defection of the Chicago "Tribune" from 
the principles and organization of the Republican party. It is 
needless to say, therefore, that the " Inter-Ocean " is a Republican 
paper. The time was fortunate to the enterprise. There was 
throughout the Northwest a decided want of a stauncE Republican 
organ, and the " Inter-Ocean " was heartily welcomed ; its circulation 
and business rapidly increased, and soon outran the most sanguine 
anticipations of its friends. On the 20th of September, the circula- 
tion of the " Inter-Ocean " had reached 20,000. The then press facil- 
ities were taxed to the utmost, and a new eight cylinder Hoe press 
was ordered. On the 18th of November, the form of the paper was 
changed from a thirty-two column folio with supplement, to a forty 
column sheet — its present form. The increase of the size of the 
"Inter-Ocean " gave a new impetus to its circulation and business, 
and the growth of both was larger after the close of the political 
campaign of 1872 than during its pendency. The old publication 
office — 16 Congress street — was inconvenient, and crowded by 



NEWSPAPERS OF CHICAGO. 



269 



this increase of business ; and, in April,. 1873, it was removed to the 
marble front building, corner of Lake and Clark streets. We present 
herewith an engraving of the building. 

In September, 1872, the " Inter-Ocean," previously owned and 
controlled entirely by Mr. Scammon, was incorporated and organ- 




" Inter -Ocean" Building. 



ized as a stock company; and, on the 17th of March last, the Hon. 
F. W. Palmer, of Des Moines, Iowa, a journalist of experience, and 
a member of Congress, assumed an interest in the paper, and be- 
came actively identified with its management. 

Twenty men only were required to write the editorials, collect the 
news, set the type, print, fold, and mail the early issues of the 
" Inter-Ocean ; "' in less than a year one hundred and seventy-one 
persons were directly employed in the same service, not to mention 




" Illinois Staats Zeitung ' Building. 






NEWSPAPERS OF CHICAGO. 27 I 

the scores of special and regular correspondents whose labor is 
found in its columns in the form of telegrams and letters from all 
parts of the world. 

It would be an injustice to Mr. E. W. Halford, directly in charge 
of the editorial department of the " Inter-Ocean " during the period 
treated above, and to Mr. Wm. Penn Nixon, the business mana- 
ger, not to accord to them a large share of credit for the growth 
and prosperity of the enterprise inaugurated by Mr. Scammon, and 
prosecuted with energy and skill by Mr. Palmer. 

The Illinois Staats Zeitidng. — The " Illinois Staats Zeitung " is now 
in the twenty-fifth year of its existence, has a large city circulation, 
and publishes a literary Sunday paper, " The Western ; " also a 
week-day weekly. The " Staats Zeitung "is a fair exponent of the 
growth of the City of Chicago, especially the German-American 
element. It appeared at first as a weekly, 8xio inches in size. The 
editor in chief had to fill the duties of reporter, advertising agent, 
printer and carrier as well. The circulation at that time was about 
200. There is nothing in the first ten years of its existence that 
claims more than passing notice. No extraordinary event occurred. 
The number of subscribers increased, as immigration increased, and 
by degrees the paper changed to a tri- weekly, and after that to a 
daily. 

With tl\e ascension of the Republican party to power, the paper 
stepped into the political arena. From that day to the present time 
it 'has had its say in the politics of City, State and Nation. A very 
warm and hearty exponent of the principles of the Republican party 
even when that party was in its infancy, it helped to secure the vic- 
tory to anti-slavery principles. Established then on a basis which 
secured to it public recognition as an important factor in the shap- 
ing of public life, it secured for itself the best attainable talent in 
the country, and is recognized to-day as the leading and most ably 
edited German paper of the United States. 

With Mr. A. C. Hesing, as Chairman of the Board of Directors, 
Herman Raster and Wm. Rapp as editors, and C. F. Pietzsch as the 
financial manager, the paper not only overcame the drawbacks of the 
great fire, but immediately entered upon a career of further progress. 
The company has erected a splendid seven story and basement stone 
front building at the northeast corner of Washington street and 
Fifth avenue. The building is entirely (with the exception of a few 
offices) given over to the necessities of a first-class printing estab- 




"Chicago Evening Journal" Building. 



NEWSPAPERS OF CHICAGO. 273 

lishment. The machinery in the basement includes a double Bullock 
press — the largest in use in the country. The job department em- 
ploys never less than sixty people. The book-binding department, 
although recently established, is turning out work very fast. The 
" Staats Zeitung," in all its branches, gives- employment to about 200 
people, mostly heads of families, and the larger number of whom 
have been connected with the paper for years. The cost of the pres- 
ent building, with its site and machinery, etc., is $250,000. 

The Evening Journal. — The "Evening Journal " is the oldest of 
the daily newspapers now published in Chicago. It was established 
thirty years ago, and has been published continuously ever since — 
first as a Whig paper, and subsequently as a Republican paper. Mr. 
Charles L. Wilson, one of its original proprietors, is its proprietor 
and publisher now. 

Before the great fire, the " Journal " office was on Dearborn street,, 
opposite the old Tremont House. The great fire consumed its office 
and all its contents. Not frightened by that disaster, its proprietor 
at once established it in temporary quarters on the West Side, and it 
did not miss a single day's issue. He immediately made arrange- 
ments for the erection of a new edifice for the permanent accommo- 
dation of the " Journal " office, on the business center of the South 
Side. Purchasing a site on Dearborn street, between Madison and 
Monroe streets, he contracted for a substantial new stone building, 
which was finished and occupied by the " Journal " in April, 1873, 
and is thus now occupied "for good." The edifice is one of the 
most imposing, substantial, and conveniently arranged in the city, 
and nearly all of it is devoted to the uses of the " Journal " and its 
Job Printing Office. The engraving herewith given is a very fair 
representation of the building. 

The " Journal " is not only the oldest, but one of the most care- 
fully and ably edited and most steady-going papers in the Northwest,, 
enjoying on that account a steady and profitable patronage. 

The Evening Tost — The first number of the " Evening Post," 
Pigott & Fowler, proprietors, saw the light on September 4, 1865, in 
a dingy basement on Randolph street, in the front part of which was- 
located the business office, and in the rear the editorial, the news, 
and the press departments, jumbled together in one confused mass. 
The effective force of the paper then consisted of one manager, Mr. 
Wm. Pigott, one editor, Mr. Stanley G. Fowler, one city reporter,. 

18 



274 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

thirteen compositors, one pressman, and one feeder. The capacity 
of the press was little more than one thousand an hour, and the size 
of the paper comparing favorably with a foolscap sheet. It was here 
that Mr. D. Blakely, tnen Secretary of State of Minnesota, and a 
life-long newspaper man, first discovered, while on a business visit to 
Chicago, the bright and saucy sheet with which he has since betn 
continuously associated ; and, almost before he was aware of the 
importance of the change he was making, he had sold his printing 
establishment in Minnesota, resigned his connection with the State 
government, and become, in connection with Major C. H. Blakely, a 
younger brother, the owner of the " Post." Arrangements were im- 
mediately perfected for the enlargement of the paper, a new press 
having been obtained for this purpose. Mr. D. Blakely became, at 
this time, its editor, Mr. C. H. Blakely its business manager, and 
from a position of conservatism in politics it was changed, (the de- 
fection of Andrew Johnson being the occasion,) into an independent, 
but radical and outspoken Republican newspaper. From this time 
the growth and prosperity of the paper was constant and marked. 
To supply the requisites of its increased circulation, the capacious 
basement, first and second floor of the building, No. 151 Dearborn 
street was secured, and in this building a Hoe press capable of strik- 
ing off four thousand impressions per hour was placed in position. 
Shortly after this change was effected, the lamented Gen. Hasbrouck 
Davis became associated with the paper, but after a brief experience 
he retired. 

It was at this time that the property of the paper was merged into 
a corporation, of which Mr. D. Blakely became, and has since con- 
tinued, the President, and Mr. C. H. Blakely was chosen the Secre- 
tary and Treasurer. It was at this time, also, that Dr. Chas. H. 
Ray, generally acknowledged to be the most ready and brilliant 
'writer ever connected with the Northwestern press, became associ- 
ated with Mr. Blakely in the editorial management of the paper. 
-In the summer of 1869, the "Post " moved into the building No. 104 
and 106 Madison street. Mr. W. H. Schuyler at this time purchased 
rthe interest of Mr. C. H. Blakely in the company, the latter from 
this time devoting his entire attention to the job department of the 
concern. Mr. Schuyler managed the business with success and in- 
dustry for upward of a year, when he was induced to part with his 
interest to the McMullen Brothers, the eldest of whom, Mr. J. B. Mc- 



NEWSPAPERS OF CHICAGO. 275 

Mullen, became the business manager, continuing therein until after 
the fire. 

Meanwhile, however, Dr. Ray had died, greatly lamented by his 
associates and the profession. Opportunely, but most unexpectedly, 
and notwithstanding that the whole business district and one whole 
residence division of the city were in ashes, the demand for newspa- 
pers, and the rush of advertising business just after the great fire of 
187 1, was greater than ever before in Chicago. Encouraged by this 
result, the proprietors of thfe " Post " at once made arrangements for 
a more complete and perfect printing equipment than had ever be- 
fore been possessed by any evening newspaper. A Bullock perfecting 
press, capable of printing 24,000 impressions per hour, was ordered 
from Philadelphia, a temporary building was immediately erected on 
the lake shore, and in an inconceivably short space of time " The 
Evening Post " found itself in better-condition than ever before for 
supplying the voracious appetite of the public for news. It was 
while in this temporary location that Mr. Blakely purchased from 
the McMullen Brothers the minority of the stock held or represented 
by them, paying therefor the valuation of one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars for the whole concern, and passing into their hands 
sixty-five thousand dollars in cash at a single payment. The friends 
who enabled him to perfect this arrangement have since come for- 
ward and taken the stock represented by this transfer, the debt of 
the paper has been entirely paid off, and established in its new quar- 
ters on Dearborn street. The "Post " is in a situation to meet the 
panic with serenity and calmness, and to enter upon the brightest 
and most prosperous period of its usefulness and power. 

Shortly after the retirement of the McMullens, Mr. L. B. Colby 
entered upon the discharge of his duties as Business Manager, which 
position he still holds. The " Post " now occupies the premises, No. 
86 and 88 Dearborn street, consisting of five stories and basement, 
40 by 100 feet in dimensions. 

The Evening Mail: — The "Evening Mail " was first published on 
the 1 8th of August, 1870, the originators being S. S. Schoff, C. B. 
Langley, and H. R. Hobart. It was started as the first two-cent 
daily paper in the West, and the only paper in Chicago receiving its 
dispatches outside the Associated Press, which had until then held, 
as was supposed, such a monopoly of the news of the world as would 
forever prevent the establishment of any rival dailies in Chicago. 



276 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

The " Mail " was at first only six columns in width, and was 
printed for a few weeks on a Taylor drum -cylinder press, in the 
upper story of No. 86 Dearborn street. The period of its birth was 
signalized by the early events in the Franco-Prussian war, and so 
great was the public demand for the telegraphic news that the rush 
of newsboys for the little sheet was good from its first issue, and at 
once passed far beyond the ability of the press to supply. 

As the prospects of the paper warranted an expansion, it was 
decided to organize a stock company with a capital of $50,000, and 
Mr. Hobart proceeded to place some of this with our business men. 
Among those who liberally and kindly extended aid to this then 
struggling enterprise, and thus enabled it to become surely estab- 
lished, should be named Messrs. David A. Gage, George M. Pullman, C. 
B. Farwell, Bowen Brothers, S. M. Nickerson, the Northwestern Paper 
Company, Ira Holmes, and T. S. McClelland. With one or two ex- 
ceptions, all of these gentlemen long since sold back their stock to 
the conductors of the paper, but they held it long enough to help it. 
Mr. E. H. Talbott, of the Belvidere Northwestern, became one of 
the stockholders and the business manager of the paper when the 
company was organized, and has been connected with it until very 
recently. 

In May, 1873, the "Mail" removed to its present location, 123 
Fifth avenue. In February, 1873, Mr. Hobart, then managing 
editor, sold out his interest in the " Mail " to Mr. W. M. Taylor, who 
had just resigned the position of Clerk of the Supreme Court of the 
State of Illinois ; : and the directors of the paper are now, M. W. 
Taylor, General Editor and Business Manager, and O. A. Wil- 
lard, Managing Editor. 



Part IV. 



STATISTICS. 



CENSUS STATISTICS. 



279 



TABLE I. 

Population of Chicago at Twenty-one Different Periods of its Development ; 
zuitk List of A/ayors since the Incorporation of the City. 



MAYORS. 



L 




W. B. Ogden 

Alex. Loyd 

August Garrett. . 
August Garrett .. 

J. P. Chapiu 

J. Curtiss . 

J. H. Woodwort.h 
J. H. Woodworth 

J. Curtiss 

C. M. Gray 

L. D. Boone 

Thomas Dyer 

John Wentworth 

F. C. Sherman 

F. C. Sherman 

John B. Rice 

John B. Rice 

John B. Rice 

R. B. Mason 

Joseph Medill- .. 
Joseph Medill... 



July, IS"? 1 !. 
July. 1840. 
July, 1843, 
July, 1845. 
Sept., 1846. 
Oct., 1847. 
Sept., 1848. 
Aug., 1849. 
Aug., 1850. 
Dec, 1853. 
June, 1855. 
Aug., 1856. 
Aug., 1860. 
Oct., 1862. 
Oct., 1864. 
Oct., 1865. 
Oct., 1866. 
Oct., 186S. 
Aug., 1870. 
Oct., 1872. 
Sept., 1873. 



MODE OF 
ENUMERATION. 



POPU- 
LATION. 



City census 4,170 

U. S. census 4,479 

City census 7,580 

[State census 12,088 

ICity census 14,169 

City census 16.859 

'City census 20,023 

iCity census 23,047 

jU. S. census 29,963 

City census 59,130 

State census 80.000 

City census 84,113 

U.S. census 109,206 

City census 138,186 

City census 160,353 

State census 178,492 

jCity census. 200,418 

1 City census 252.054 

ICity census 306,605 

City census 367.396 

Estimated 425,000 



TABLE II. 



Population by Geographical Divisions, According to School Censuses, 1853 to 1S72 



YEAR. 



December, 1853 
August 1, 1856 . 
October 1, 1862. 
October 1, 18(54. 
October 1, 1866 . 
October 1, 1868. 
August 1, 1870. 
October 1, 1872. 



SOUTH 
DIVISION. 



26,952 
30.339 
45.470 
56,955 
58,755 
71,073 
86,471 
88,496 



WEST 
DIVISION. 

14,679 

28,250 

57,193 

73,475 

90,739 

118,435 

149,780 

214,344 



NORTH 
DIVISION. 



17,859 
25,524 
35,523 
38,923 
50,924 
62,546 
70,354 
64,556 



TOTAL 
CITY. 



59,130 
84,113 
138,186 
169,353 
200,418 
292,054 
306,605 
367,396 



The increase in eighteen years and ten months has been: In the South Division, 232^ per 
cent.; West Division. 1,360 per cent. ; North Division, 261% per cent.; whole city, 521 =/, per 
cent. According to the present census there are 244 persons between 12 and 21 years of 
age who are unable to either read or write. In the private schools there are 14,5S1 scholars. 



28o 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



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* 1873 carefully estimated on the best attainable data. The figures in the assessment rolls, 
notwithstanding recent and more stringent legislation, are not believed to approach nearer 
than TO per cent, of just commercial value of property subject to taxation for city purposes, 
leaving of course all untaxable property to be added for an aggregate of Chicago's wealth. 
The Bonded Debt of Chicago on the 1st of July, 1873, was $13,546,000, but estimates and ap- 
propriations for repairing the ravages of the fire, for an additional Lake Tunnel for water 
supply, for elevating the street grade over large districts, and for other exigent objects, 
exceed the whole amount and necessitate a tax levy nearly quadruple the preceding year's 
levy, and at the rate of five per cent., an assessment "more than double any previous rate, and 
never likely again to be requisite. 

Note. — From 1851 to 1862, inclusive, a Lamp Tax of half a mill to two mills was levied 
on certain portions of the city, and is included in the above Total Tax, 






RECEIPTS AND SHIPMENTS. 



28l 



TABLE IV. 

Showing the Amounts of the Commodities A T amed, Received and Shipped at Chicago 
for the first 9 months of 1872 and 1873. 

EECEIPTS. 



Flour, bbls 

Whi, at, bushels 

Coru, " 

Oats, " 

Rye, " 

Barley, " 

Seeds, lbs. 1 

Broom Corn, lbs. 

Cured Meats, lbs 

Beef, bbls 

Pork, bbls 

Lard, lbs 

Tallow, lbs 

Butter, lbs. 

Drt ssed Hogs, number 

Live Hogs, number 

Cattle, number 

Sheep, number 

Hides, lbs 

High wines, bbls. .. 

Wool, lbs 

Lumber, M 

Shingles, M. 

Lath, M 

Salt, bbls. 



Jan. 1 to Sept. 

28, 1872. 



987,222 

6,942,811 

38,073,808 

9,831,979 

621,607 

2,024,500 

29,907,878 

4,531,953 

23,730,013 

7,982 

121,812 

15,587,013 

4,871,221 

5,089,717 

199,891 

2,138,245 

519,353 

233,112 

24,268,093 

65,954 

19,795,227 

914,414 

418,170 

90,639 

398,735 



Jan. 1 to Sept. 
27, 1873. 



1,498,628 

15,777,933 

31,862,693 

12,788,708 

845,046 

2,162,933 

35,672,415 

5,750,332 

29,293,176 

1,313 

19,102 

14,564,282 

5,420,610 

14,673,021 

174,329 

2,743,879 

819,098 

228,842 

23,260,727 

53,006 

27,454,816 

868,257 

391,649 

68,202 

4?4,359 



Jan. 1 to Dec. 

28, 1873. 



1,511,637 

12,640,084 

44,610,469 

12,878,862 

952,271 

4,696,510 

42,806,884 

8,599,288 

35,032,670 

13,752 

125,151 

18,274,411 

6,369,659 

10,067,948 

225,103 

3,231,811 

680,795 

308,307 

34,184,069 

85,466 

27,328,535 

1,205,826 

531,029 

121,516 

364,473 



SHIPMENTS. 



Flour, bbls 

Wheat, bushels 

Corn, " : 

Oats, " 

Rye, " 

Barley, " 

Seeds, lbs. 

Broom Corn, lbs 

Cured Meats, lbs. 

Beef, bbls 

Pork, bbls. 

Lard, lbs 

Tallow, lbs. 

Butter, lbs. 

Dressed Hogs, number 

Live Hogs, number 

Cattle, number 

Sheep, number 

Hides, lbs 

Highwines, bbls 

Woo], lbs 

Lumber, M 

Shingles, M 

Lath, M 

Salt, lbs . 



Jan. 1 to Sept. 

28, 1872. 



845,301 

7,050,439 

38,961,357 

9,221,872 

566,399 

1,726,869 

15,454,635 

2,038,618 

164,038,215 

15,103 

82,096 

55.835,139 

3,395,204 

7,044,849 

104,962 

1,412,883 

407,190 

108,325 

19,683,439 

75,032 

18,978,668 

304,027 

331,127 

38,583 

363,042 



Jan. 1 to Sept. Jan. 1 to Dec 



27, 1873. 



1,524,375 

14,564,284 

26,419,590 

11,743,066 

693,918 

1,637,778 

20,110,078 

5,056,164 

229,511,413 

21,117 

130,776 

62,435,493 

7,167,450 

7,381,227 

139,088 

1,674,484 

444,770 

93,545 

22,118,149 

64,924 

25,793,999 

427,988 

303,406 

40,173 

414,359 



28, 1873. 

1,302,69S 

12,092,125 

46,747,506 

12,062,311 

765,833. 

4,760,743 

22,922,106 

3,624,544 

718,820,474 

32,034 

195,479 

81,497,713 

5,746,947 

9,299,848 

128,199 

1,821,526 

478,462 

130,367 

29,141,282 

104,928 

25,715,119 

420,751 

433,766 

48,806 

500,384 



282 



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284 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



TABLE VI. 

Live Stock Received and Shipped at Chicago for Sixteen Years. 
1 

CATTLE. 



TEAB. 



1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 



RECEIVED. 



48,524 
140,534 
111,694 
117,101 
204,259 
209,655 
304,448 
338,840 



SHIPPED. 



25,502 

42,638 

37,684 

97,474 

124,145 

112,745 

201,066 

253,439 



TEAB. 



1865 

1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 



BECEIVED. 



330,301 
384,251 
329,243 
323,514 
403,102 
532,964 
543,050 
684,075 



SHIPPED. 



301,637 

268,723 
216,982 
217,897 
294,717 
391,709 
401,927 
510,025 



HOGS. 



, 




BECEIVED. 






SHIPPED. 




TEAB. 


Live. 


Dressed. 


Total. 

244,345 

540,486 

271,224 

392,864 

675,902 

1,348,890 

1,956,873 

1,575,328 

849,311 

1,386,326 

1,987,120 

1,988,515 

1,852,382 

1,953,372 

2,652,549 

3,488,528 


Live. 


Dressed. 


Total. 


1857 

1858 

1859—. 

1860 

1861.. 

1862 

1863 .. 

1864 

1865 

1866 

1867 

1868... 

1869 

1870 

1871. 

1872 


208,902 

416,225 

188,671 

285,149 

549,039 

1,110,971 

1,606,818 

1,285,871 

757,072 

933,233 

1,696,689 

1,706,592 

1,661,869 

1,693,158 

2,380,083 

3,253,623 


35,433 
124,261 

82,553 
107,715 
126,863 
237,919 
350,055 
289,457 

92,239 
353,093 
260,431 
281,923 
190,513 
260,214 
272,466 
234,905 


110,070 

159,181 

87,254 

191,931 

216,982 

446,506 

752,151 

561,277 

575.511 

484,793 

760,547 

1,020,812 

1,086,305 

924,483 

1,162,286 

1,835,594 


13,498 

32,832 

22,992 

35,233 

72,112 

44,629 

110,039 

98,115 

69,034 

91,306 

156,091 

226,901 

199,650 

171,188 

169,473 

145,701 


123,568 

192,013 

110,246 

227,164 

289,094 

491,135 

862,190 

659,392 

644,545 

576,099 

916,638 

1,247,713 

1,285,955 

1,095,671 

1,331,759 

1,981,295 



TABLE VII. 



Packing — Beef and Pork, at Chicago, for 11 Seasons. 



Season. 


Number of 

Cattle 

Packed. 


Number of 

Hogs 

Packed. 


Season. 


Number of 

Cattle 

Packed. 


Number of 

Hogs 

Packed. 


1851-2 

1852-3 — 

1853-4 

1854-5. 

1855-6 


21,806 
24,663 
25,431 
23,691 
28,972 
14,971 
34,675 
45,503 
51,606 
34,624 
53,763 


22,036 

44,156 

52,848 

73,694 

80,380 

74,000 

99,262 

179,684 

151,339 

271,805 

505,691 


1862-3 

1863-4 

1864-5 

1865-6. 

1866-7 

1867-8..... 

1868-9 

1869-70 


59,687 
70,086 
92,459 
27,172 
25,996 
35,348 
26,950 
11,963 
21,254 
16,080 
15,675 


970,264 
904,659 
760,514 
507,355 
639,332 


1856-7 


796,226 


1857-8 


597,954 


1858-9 . 


688,140 


1859-60 . 


1870-1 


919,197 


1860-1 


1871-2 


1,225,236 


1861-2 ; 


1872-3. 


1,425,079 







: 



CHICAGO GRAIN TRADE. 



285 



TABLE VIII. 

Chicago Grain Trade from the Beginning to Date — Being Shipments for Thirty^ 

(_ six Years. 



Ybab. 


92 

H 
ft 


92 

.a 3 


92 

B CQ 

opq 



CQ 

A 

csch 


(Rye, 
Bushels. 

1 


92 
P"VC1 

sspq 


Total, 

bushels 

flour 

reduced 

to wheat. 


1838 




78 

3,678 

10,000 

40,000 

586,907 

688,967 

861,894 

956,860 

1,459,594 

1,974,304 

2,160,000 

1,936,264 

883,644 

437,660 

635,996 

1,206,163 

2.306,925 

6,298,155 

8,364,420 

9.846,052 

8,850,257 

7,166,696 

12,402,197 

15,835,953 

13,808,898 

10,793,295 

10,250,026 

7,614,887 

10,118,907 

10,557,123 

10,374,683 

13,244,249 

16,432,585 

12,905,449 

12,160,046 








78 


1839 












3,678 


1840 ... 












10,000 


1841 












40,090 


1842 












586,907 


1843 












688,967 


1844 


6,320 

13,752 

28,045 

32,538 

45,200 

51,309 

100,871 

72,406 

61,196 

70,984 

111,627 

163,419 

216,389 

259,648 

470,402 

686,351 

698,132 

1,603,920 

1,739,849 

1,522,085 

1,258,343 

1,293,428 

1,981,525 

2,015,455 

2,399,619 

2,339,063 

1,705,977 

2,287,574 

1,361,328 










923,494 


1845 .*- 










1,025,620 


1846 










1,599,819 


1847 


67,135 

550,460 

644,848 

262JB13 

3,221,317 

2,757,011 

2,780,22b 

6,837,890 

7,517,625 

11,129,668 

6,814,615 

7,726,264 

4,349,360 

13,700,113 

24,372,725 

29,452,610 

25,051,450 

12,235,452 

25,437,241 

32,753,181 

21,067,205 

24,770,626 

21,586,808 

17,777,377 

36,716,030 

47,013,552 


38,892 

65,280 

26,849 

158,084 

605,827 

2,030,317 

1,748,393 

3,239,987 

1,888,538 

1,014,637 

506,778 

1,519,069 

1,185,703 

1,091,698 

1,633,237 

3,112.366 

9,234,858 

16,567,650 

11,142,140 

9,961,215 

10,226,026 

14,440,830 

8,800,646 

8,507,735 

12,151,247 

12,255,537 






2,243,021 
3,001,740 


1848 






1849. . :■... 




31,452 

22,872 
19,997 
79,818 
120,267 
148,411 
92,011 
19,051 
17,293 


2,895,958 


1850 .-..- 




1,830,968 
4,646,831 


1851..... 




1852 


17,315 
82,162 
41,158 
19,326 
591 


5,826,437 
6,292,233 


1853 


1854 

1855. 


13,132,501 
16,632,750 
21,610,312 
1S.4R3.fV7Q 


1856 

1857 


1858 


7,569 

134,404 

156,642 

393,813 

871,796 

651,094 

893,492 

999,289 

1,444,574 

1,213,380 

1,202,941 

798,744 

913,623 

1,325,867 

776,805 


132,620; 50,587,189 
486,218 16,754,136 
267,449 31,108,750 
226,534 ! 50,481,862 
532,195! 56,477,110 
948,223, 54,287,345 
345,208| 46,718,543 

507,484 K9..2K8.1S1 


1859 .... 


1860 


1861 ... 


1862 


1863 


1864 


1865 


1866 

1867 


1,300,821 

1,846,891 

901,183 


65,486,323 
55,187,909 

fiS K88 SKS 


1868. 


1869 


633,753 Kfi 7KQ .KIR 


1870 


2,584,692 
2,908,113 
5,032,308 


54,745,903 
71,800,789 
83,364,224 


1871 


1872 


1873 



















286 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



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288 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



TABLE X. 



Grain Receipts and Shipments ; the several kinds by the several transits. — 1 872. 



RECEIPTS. 





Corn. 


Wheat. 


Rye. 


Oats. 


Baklet. 


By Lake 




167,388 






6,583 
65 


Illinois and Michigan Canal 


7,157,274 
4,411,139 
8,126,969 
7,627,698 
11,804,124 
6,621,420 


4,808 

6,606,808 

2,955,445 

1,793,450 

1,010,438 

25,070 

14,556 

114,418 

5,252 

20,908 

5,600 


4,129 
335,822 
130,878 
244,511 
338,046 
56,185 


851,589 
3,381.764 
3,476^40 
2,152,896 
3,917,673 

701,240 
19,833 


Chicago and Northwestern R. R - 

Illinois Central R. R -- 

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific R. R._ 
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy R. R. . 
Chicago and Alton R. R. . 


2,503,610 

1,061,536 

703,108 

951,304 

12,970 


Michigan Central R. R 




Lake Shore and Michigan Southern R.R. 


22 

982 

3,659 

1,612,800 


565 
350 

"~~T8~666 




Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago R. R. 


3,704 

13,256 

543,820 

15,061,715 




Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis R.R. 
Cnicago, Danville and Vincennes R. R. 


574 
12,000 


Total. . 


47,366,087 


12,724,141 


1,129,0S6 


5,251,750 



SHIPMENTS. 



By Lake 

Illinois and Michigan Canal 

Chicago and Northwestern R. R ... 

Illinois Central R. R 

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific R. R.- 
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy R. R.. 

Chicago and Alton R. R.__ 

Michigan Central R.R ... 

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern R.R. 
Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago R. R. 
Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis R. R. 
Chicago, Danville and Vincennes R. R. 

Total. 



Corn. 



41,589,508 
"~~~27~928 
5^14 



2,066,722 

1,971,132 

1,200,150 

150,398 

2,000 



47,013,552 



Wheat. 



8,831,870 
266,010 
119,675 
111,144 
203,738 

80.402 
157,877 
834,600 
423,921 
544,518 
560,711 

85,530 



12,160,046 



Rye. 



231,538 
400 

985 
7,822 
2,468 



12,677 

18,842 

45,078 

184,900 

263,295 

8,800 



776,805 



Oats. 

6,370,784 

7,064 

18,962 

1,240 

1,018 



1,850 

2,953,791 

1,646,272 

763,400 

489,856 

1,300 



12,255,537 



Barley. 



2,330,523 



45,249 

68,976 

50,266 

13,897 

57,560 

558,815 

597,184 

947,360 

354,03S 

8,440 



5,032,308 






ROUTES OF TRANSPORTATION. 



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290 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



TABLE XII. 

Grand Aggregates of Cereals. — 1872. 

Up to the close of 1872 the grain, consisting of Wheat, and flour reduced to bushels of 
wheat, Corn, Oats, Rye and Barley, which from the beginning (during 35 years) had been 
shipped from the port of Chicago, exceeds a bushel a-piece to the human race ; viz., a grand 
aggregate of one thousand four hundred and thirty-two millions, four hundred and thirty-five 
thousand, one hundred and forty bushels, or more than thirty -nine million bushels a year 



(39,789,865) for every year since the city was incorporated in 1837 
there were of 



Of this grand aggregate 



Wheat, including flour .bushels 881,381,138 

Indian Corn 386,792,804 

Oats 133,013,639 

Barley 19,302,964 

Rye.... 11,944,595 

Total, bushels 1,432,435,140 

The first of the thirty-five years, 78 bushels was the whole shipment; the last, 83,364,224 
bushels, was the shipment, of which 47,013,552 bushels was corn, 12,160,046 of wheat. 



TABLE XIII. 

Direct Importations of Merchandise to Chicago for the Calendar year 1 872 and eight 

months 0/1873. 

TOTAL BY MONTHS— 1872. 



January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December... 

Total. 



By Vessel 
via Canada, 



60,732 
7,249 

81,899 
1,186 
107,382 
204,476 
205.474 
207,385 
219,799 
327,778 
185,086 
158,329 



1,766,775 



Sealed cars, 

via N. Y., 

Boston, &c. 



% 



19,932 
11T,017 
304,799 
404,394 
169,267 
110,918 
143.195 
562,123 
443,192 
417.437 
141,890 

94,961 



$2,929,134 



TOTAL. 



80,664 
124,266 
386,698 
405,580 
276,649 
315,394 
348.66'.) 
769,508 
662,991 
745,215 
326,976 
253,290 



$4,495,909 



FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF 1873. 



January 

February 

March 

April 

.May 

June 

July 

August 

Total. 



By Vessel 
via Canada 



10,161 
15,837 
8,172 
148,597 
154,238 
136,469 
178,234 



$669,477 



Sealed cars 

via-N. Y., j 

Boston, &c. 



$172,640 
452,288 
353,333 
195,714 
78,(562 
84,136 
109,862 
213,990 

$1,660,625 



TOTAL. 



$180,409 
462,449 
369,170 
203,886 
227,259 
238,374 
246,331 
392,224 



$2,330,102 






MARINE STATISTICS. 



2 9 I 



TABLE XIV. 



Arrivals and Clearances of Lake Vessels at the Port of Chicago daring 1872. 



ARRIVED. 




CLEARED. 



1872. 


Vessels in the 
coasting trade. 


Foreign vessels 
to foreign ports. 


American vessels 
to foreign ports. 


Aggregate vessels 
cleared. 


Months. 


Vessels 

4 
2 

43 

483 
1,599 
1,860 
1,981 
1,939 
1,626 
1,746 

767 
14 


Tonnage. 

1,600 
946 

8,092 
88,687 
360,012 
442,801 
471,302 
467,463 
401,222 
422,772 
219,746 

4,543 

2,889,186 


Vessels 


Tonnage. 


Vessels 


Tonnage. 


J Vessels Tonnage. 


January 






4 

2 

43 

488 
1,688 
1,924 
2,041 
2,030 
1,702 
1,801 

794 
14 


1,600 
946 


February 

March 


















8,092 


April 

May 


1 
22 
13 
23 
16 
24 
38 
13 


305 
6,370 
3,662 
6,148 
4,389 
7,076 
11,295 
&.503 


4 
67 
51 

37 
75 
52 
17 
14 


1,156 

19,138 

14,308 

9,221 

20,013 

13,506 

4,639 

3,875 


90,148 
385,520 


June 

July 


460.771 
486,671 


August .. 

September... 

October 

November ... 
December 


491,865 
421,804 
438,706 
227,124 
4,543 










85,856 




Total 


12,064 


150 


42,748 


317 


12,531 


3,017,790 



292 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



TABLE XV. 

Comparative Statement of Arrivals and Clearances at the Port of Chicago for the 

Past Ten Years. 



Arrivals. 


Clearances. 


Years. 


Vessels. 


Tonnage. 


Years. 


Vessels. 


Tonnage, 


1863 -. -.. 

1864 

1865 


8,678 
8,938 
10,112 
11,084 
12,230 
13,174 
13,730 
12,739 
12,330 
12,824 


2.172,611 
2,172,866 
2,106,857 
2,258,572 
2.588,527 
2,984,591 
3,123,400 
3,049,265 
3,096,101 
3,059,752 


1868- 

1864 

1865 


8,457 
8.824 
10,067 
11,115 
12.140 
13,225 
13,872 
12,433 
12,312 
12,531 


2,161,221 

2,166,904 
2,092,276 


1866 -.- 


1866 - 

1867 — 


2,361,520 


1867 .-- 


2,512,676 


1868 


1868 - 

1869 .- 

1870 

1871 

1872 — 


3,020,812 


1869 .- 


3,149,946 


1870 


2,983,942 


1871 


3,082.235 


1872 


3,017,790 







TABLE XVI. 



Statistics of Trade and Population. — St. Louis and Chicago Compared, 



[The following comparisons are from the Directory for 1873 of Mr. Richard Edwards, who 
has made the facts here handled a special study for years. While deprecating those compari- 
sons which are proverbially " odious, 1 ' we place sufficient confidence in the general correct- 
ness and utility of the figures to give them a place in this department of " Chicago and Its 
Suburbs."] 

POPULATION. 



Names in Directory of 1860 
1866 
1870 

1873 



Chicago. 



St. Louis. Chi.Maj.. 



28,792 

70,363 

100,555 

133,043 



53,211 
55,456 
71,925 
91,850 



14,907 
28,630 
41,193 



BUSINESS. 

The following table shows the number of business houses, by an actual count, as re- 
ported in the commercial reports issued in July, 1873, by the three mercantile agencies of R. 
G. Dim & Co., Tappan, McKillop & Co., and J. M. Bradstreet & Son: 

Chicago. St. Louis, 

From R. G. Dun & Co - 8,816 - 4,418 

From Tappan, McKillop & Co „..-..._ 8,262 4,852 

From J. M. Bradstreet & Son 8,376 5,854 

Average... - 8,485 5,052 

These figures show, when averaged, that the number of business houses in Chicago is 68 
per cent, greater than the number in St. Louis. The commercial agencies do not, however, 
claim to be exhaustive in their reports. The two Directories, when called into requisition 
upon this point, show totals as follows : 



1873. 
Business firms. 



Chicago. 
.. 12,794 



St. Louis. 
. . S,019 



CHICAGO VS. ST. LOUIS. 293 

The details of the count of Business Establishments in the two cities are as follows: 



■ (- 



Abstracts 

Agricultural Implements.-. 

Architects 

Artists 

Bakeries 

Bankers 

Banks 

Banks for Savings 

Barbers 

Billiard Halls 

Blacksmiths 

Horse Shoers.. 

Boarding Houses 

Book Bindt rs 

Booksellers and Stationers 

Boot and Shoemakers 

Boots and Shoes, wholesale 

Boots and Shoes, retail 

Carriage Builders and Dealers 

Chemists, Manufacturing 

Cigar Manufacturers 

Cigars, wholesale 

Cigars and Tobacco, wholesale 

Cigars and Tobacco, whol. and ret. 

Cigars and Tobacco, retail 

Clothing Manufacturers 

Clothing, wholesale 

Clothing, retail . 

Coal Dealers 

Coal and Wood 

Commission Merchants 

Contractors 

Crockery and Glassware 

Dentists 

Distillers and Rectifiers 

Dressmakers . . . 

Druggists, wholesale 

Druggists, retail . 

Dry Goods, wholesale 

Dry Goods, retail 

Elevators 

Fancy and Variety Stores 

Florists 

Flour and Feed 

Foundries 

Furniture Manufacturers 

Furniture Dealers 

Gents 1 Furnishing Goods 

Grocers, wholesale 

Grocers, wholesale and retail 

Grocers, retail 

Hair Goods, Workers and Dressers 

Hardware, wholesale.. 

Hardware, wholesale and retail ... 

Hardware, retail 

Hat and Cap Manufacturers 

Hats and Caps, wholesale 

Hats and Caps, retail 

Hides, Pelts, etc 

Hotels 

Ice Dealers ._ 

Insurance Agents 

Insurance Companies, Fire._ 

Insurance Companies, Marine 



o 

fcJO 



cS 

O 

si 
O 




Hi 

+-= 


3 





13 


10 


93 


42 


86 


26 


191 


196 


34 


7 


36 


22 


19 


36 


229 


199 


60 


7 


127 


94 


52 


22 


664 


442 


21 


14 


138 


63 


876 


319 


24 


20 


891 


235 


49 


38 


15 


9 


144 


138 


16 


8 


13 





17 


7 


282 


147 


14 


4 


83 


15 


178 


78 


67 


30 


189 


75 


495 


361 


117 


15 


55 


53 


89 


47 


83 


13 


289 


196 


12 


10 


195 


134 


20 


19 


239 


187 


14 


3 


135 


155 


82 


10 


137 


73 


21 


39 


77 


39 


153 


75 


67 


38 


51 


58 


19 


35 


197 


541 


42 


13 


11 


10 


12 


5 


139 


34 


12 


6 


10 


7 


78 
22 


47 
11 


105 


74 


10 


34 


116 


61 ; 


109 


93 


17 






o 
bfl 

o 



O 



Insurance Companies, Life 

Iron, Nails and Steel 

Iron Works 

Jewelry Manufacturers. 

Junk Dealers 

Justices of the Peace 

Laundries 

Lawyers. 

Leather Manufacturers 

Leather and Findings _ 

Lightning Eod Manufacturers 

Lime, Plaster and Cement 

Lithographers 

Livery Stables 

Locksmiths and Bell Hangers 

Lumber Manuf acturers andDealers 

Machinists ... . 

Marble Workers and Dealers 

Match Manufacturers 

Meat Markets 

Millinery and Millinery Goods 

Millinery, wholesale 

Mining Companies 

Mowers and Reapers 

Music Teachers 

News Depots 

Newspapers and Publications 

Notaries Public 

Notions, wholesale. 

Oil Manufacturers and Dealers ... 

Packers, Beef and Pork 

Painters ...■. 

Paper Dealers 

Paper Hangings 

Pawnbrokers , 

Photographers. 

Physicians 

Pictu re Frames 

Planing Mills . 

Plumbers and Gasfitters ..,._ 

Printers .... 

Publishers 

Railroad Companies 

Railroad Supplies 

Real Estate 

Rolling Mills 

Restaurants 

Roofers 

Saddle and Harness Makers 

Sash, Doors and Blinds 

Stoves and Hollow Ware 

Tailors 

Tanners and Curriers 

Tin, Copper and Sheet Iron Works. 
Tobacco Manufacturers & Dealers 

Trunk Manufacturers 

Undertakers 

Upholsterers 

Wagon Makers 

Watchmakers and Jewelers 

White lead Manufacturers 

Wines and Liquors 



53 
10 
21 
11 
36 
14 
83 
557 

6 
17 

9 
33 

9 
85 
32 
193 
15 
20 



o 

.+-3 

02 

45 

14 

22 



7 

14 

30 

372 



14 
2 
8 
12 
63 
20 
52 
13 
18 



Total 12,794 8,019 



b 

472 


469 


179 


96 


13 


11 


8 


10 


8 


4 


33 


33 


53 


33 


84 


83 


194 


118 


9 





19 


14 


55 


33 


189 


95 


16 


5 


35 


13 


39 


31 


65 


37 


488 


369 


33 


37 


40 


13 


■ 83 


36 


101 


40 


79 


19 


31 


38 


17 


9 


643 


85 


3 


3 


184 


74 


37 


14 


84 


54 


51 


9 


59 


73 


400 


331 


33 


31 


39 


40 


34 


35 


30 


30 


31 


38 


30 


34 


69 


69 


164 


100 


4| 


(j 


178 j 


116 



POSTAL BUSINESS. 

The records of the Post Office Department at Washington show that there were collected 
and delivered in Chicago and St. Louis during the month of June, 1873, letters to the follow- 
ing number: Chicago. St. Louis. 

Collected 8,542,447 527,898 

Delivered 1,277,287 894,831 



294 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



TABLE XVI. 



Showing the Popttlation of the States Depending Mainly or Largely 

for a Market. 

1860. 1870. 

Illinois.... 1,711,951 2,539,891 

Michigan 1,184,059 1,749,113 

Wisconsin 775,881 1,054,670 

Iowa. 674,913 1,194,020 

Nebraska 28,841 122,993 

Minnesota 172,023 439,706 

Kansas 107,206 364,399 

Colorado... 34,277 39,864 

Utah... 40,273 86,786 

Arkansas. 435,450 484,471 

Texas 604,215 818,579 



upon Chicago 



Total 5,769,089 



8,894,492 



TABLE XVII. 



National Banks of Chicago. — Facts from Quarterly Statement of December 2J ', 1872. 



1 

3 

2 

4 

6 

10 

5 

12 

7 

15 

9 

16 

8 

13 

11 

14 

18 

17 

19 



NATIONAL BANKS. 



Union 

Third 

First 

Commercial 

German 

Corn Exchange... 

Merchants' 

Mechanics 1 

Manufacturers' fc . - 

Cook County 

Fifth 

Illinois 

Northwestern 

City 

Second 

Traders 

Commerce 

Fourth 

Union Stock Yards 

J Home 

i Central 



PRESIDENTS. 



W. F. Coolbaugh 
J. Irving Pierce .. 
S. M. Nickerson. 

H. F. Fames 

H. Greenebaum.. 
J. S. Rumsey 

C. B. Blair 

J. Y. Scammon.. 
Ira Holmes 

D. D. Spencer 

C. B. Sawyer 

E. Schneider 

Geo. Sturgis 

A. D. Reed 

J. A. Ellis 

.1. O. Rutter 

P. C. Maynard. _. 

H. R. Payson 

W. F. Tucker..-. 
A. L. Chetlain... 
Wm. F. Endicott. 



Loans, dis- 
counts, and 
Over Drafts 



13,338,715 

2,806,785 

2,493,063 

1,149,514 

1,261,659 

903,277 

1,375,071 

939,664 

865,735 

742,882 

955,995 

887.003 

1,197,365 

656,425 

457,55(5 

536,603 

495,178 

333,622 

226,278 

171,438 

119,876 



$22,183,704 



Cash and 

Clearing 

House 

Exchanges. 



1,795,727 
844,855 
921,152 
518,174 
386,478 
414,738 
238,717 
264,303 
202,858 
337,607 
241,382 
185,945 
251,617 
167,473 
212,652 
410,614 
168,652 
125,129 
39,352 
51,955 
48,180 



$6,723,690 



Due from 

Redeeming 

Agents and 

other 

Bankers. 



$507,281 

317,528 

549,056 

271,241 

j 170,299 

'234,435 

174,694 

142.218 

222,026 

142,218 

248,331 

129,930 

170.351 

187,339 

90,377 

39,503 

95,775 

90,215 

178,333 

60,000 

. 70,924 

$4,112,737 



Deposits, 
Dec. 27, 

1872. 



$4,312,823 

2,889,119 

2,810,240 

1,563,275 

1,211,894 

1,028,774 

992,408 

908,677 

885,820 

880,612 

767,990 

719,646 

706,574 

704,426 

647,256 

612,344 

550,042 

367,512 

316,881 

123,666 

60,953 



$23,039,932 



Bank Clearings for four years ending with 1872. 



1869 

1870 

1871. 

1872 



1st Quarter. 



$166,859,926.74 
169,400,572.03 
213,879,551.77 
197,147,806.61 



2d Quarter. 



$176,301,175.07 
204,290,577.73 
230,766,056.01 
247,150,355 35 



3d Quarter. 



$189,385,898.03 
215,850,904.14 
256,512,994.49 
283,212,769.83 



4th Quarter. 



$202,114,949.47 
221,133,982.38 
177,778,152.46 
265,549,571.67 



Total. 



$734,661,949.91 
810,076,036.28 
878,036,754.73 
993,060,503.47 



*Weut out of business, September, 1873. 






CHICAGO AS A BORROWER. 



The New York " Financier," /through one of its contributors, examined for itself into 
the political economy of Chicago -during the winter of 1872-3. The special responsibility of 
such a periodical to its patrons imparts significance to the result, published in a series of let- 
ters which have been justly commended for their patient accuracy and studious impartiality. 
We subjoin an extract from the second of the series: 

Chicago, Dec. 24, 1872. 

The total amount of loans outstanding from non-residents upon local security neither 
needs nor admits of exactitude; but averaging the separate judgments of five of the most 
experienced Loan Agents, the figure comes out $64,000,000. This does not include money 
loaned by residents, exclusive of bauks, which I am informed, is about one-tenth of the 
amoiint placed here by Eastern and foreign capitalists. Of this Eastern money very little 
goes into merchandise, manufacturing, etc., but, past and present, is absorbed in building; 
working stock, goods, material, etc., being obtained directly on credit. But labor, of course, 
demands cash. It is remarkable that the fire but slightly influenced, on the whole, the 
amount or character of these loans, or the uses made of the money. Before, as since the 
fire, house building and money borrowing went much together. That the destruction of 
property did not check mercantile credit is well known, though I have discovered with inter- 
est the fact that it was the same, in general, in the loan market; one of the most experienced 
agents of investments having informed me that his Eastern correspondents sent out more 
money than he could place at former rates of interest soon after the fire. 

With regard to the state of this business before the fire, the experience of those most con- 
versant with it is not entirely agreed ; some stating that they always had a good demand, 
while one of the leading firms found, during the season of 1871, money a drug- at eight per 
cent, in their hands. On the anniversary of the fire, the estimated outlay for building, within 
the burnt district alone, was $45,558,200, the houses having a street frontage* of over four 
miles — about half what the fire vacated. Of this large sum, the major part was borrowed 
money ; yet the outstanding aggregate does not seem at any time to have been much swelled, 
the fire having merely worked a change, to some extent, in the persons accommodated. A 
large proportion of this sum was procured for the rebuilding of the really magnificent 
hotels, the sole proprietor of one of them having borrowed a million with ease from one of 
the most prudent and conservative corporations in New England. Whether to build or re- 
build, a Chicagoan borrows the means to do it with. But this is to be understood relatively 
to other cities. 

The rate of interest realized by the lender for the major part of the assumed aggregate of 
$54,000,000 now outstanding, is over 9 per cent. ; sums below $10,000 never going out, in the 
regular course of business, at less than 10, and few, except cases of very large loans, at less 
than 9. The very largest loans bring 8 per cent., below which I hear of none at all, unless the 
round million borrowed by one man above mentioned be at 7^, as I have heard hinted. But 
this rate would be regarded as altogether without parallel here. The settled practice that all 
commissions, fees, stamps, exchange, and all manner of expenses, are borne by the borrower, 
the lender in no case compensating his own agent, I have seldom known to be so uniform, 
well understood, and cheerfully observed. 

With inconsiderable exceptions, all this money is secured on real estate, generally within 
the city. The loans usually run three to five years, the interest payable semi-annually in the 
East. Before closing, I will state in some detail the description of corporations and individ- 
uals who constitute the lenders in this business. It will be then seen that they belong to the 
soundest and best qualified judges of credit in the country. This significant fact is highly 
reputable to the city; but there is another, which illustrates also the completeness and cer- 
tainty of legal remedies in these cases, the soundness and simplicity of land titles here, and 
the admirable system of negotiation, as well as the substantial elements of a good credit — 
viz., from every loan agent in the city of prominence I have received the answer, "Not one 
cent ! " to my inquiry how much had been lost in this class of transactions within their expe- 
rience. But these facts would still admit the possible depreciation of the mortgaged prem- 
ises under some financial revulsion calculated to explode speculative values. This reflection 
led me to inquire with pains into /the solidity of prices of real estate in Chicago, with the 
following result: — 

Property in the suburbs, and in some degree wherever residences alone are in prospect, is 
more fluctuating and tainted with speculation, seldom to the extent, however, of any serious 
danger, as it seems to me, while the fact itself is denied or much qualified by the regular 
dealers in real estate. Under ordinary circumstances elsewhere, farms are apt to be preferred 
to city lots by mortgagees — influenced, perhaps, by general policy. The JEtna Life Insuranee 



296 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Company, a heavy investor in this market, is understood to confine its loans to agricultural 
property. This is also much the case with the Hartford Life. But, with these exceptions, 
the opposite policy generally prevails, loan agents usually distrusting agricultural lands 
most, suburban property next, and least of all, ground in the midst of impetuous and inordi- 
nate commercial influences. That business sites are not exaggerated in price is the general 
assertion, and, indeed, is unquestionably true in the main, improbable as it may appear; but 
nobody has offered me any satisfactory reason of the fact. It would seem, however, not un- 
accountable. Speculative values of ground space will be found in all cases to issue out of a 
nucleus, more or less certain of stability and exact in locality, in the shape of a " trade cen- 
ter," most frequently. ********** 

The fire abolished centers that had formed, and scattered the people to acquire new habits 
of resort. But the effect was much greater in degree than would have been experienced in 
Eastern cities, since the equal fitness of so large a proportion of blocks and streets here had 
rendered the ascendancy of some over all the rest generally a mere accident, confirmed by 
habit. This is appreciated by some of the leading merchants, who are exerting now a stren- 
uous rivalry in aggrandizing their respective sites of trade. It is illustrated, too, by the fact 
that the lessor of one of that class abated $50,000 of his demand for the lease, on receiving a 
bonus equal to the whole sum, not from the lessee, who preferred to go, but from his sagacious 
neighbors, who foresaw the loss which would be incident to his going. 

Thus, while the people are not agreed as to where trade of eithtr branch is to throb thickest, 
there is no peg on which to hang gambling estimates, and so it comes to pass that business 
sites in a community of ardent emprise are yet without excessive valuation. Of course, this 
is not to remain so always. Trade will center, and then speculation will arise as formerly, 
and, it may be hoped, with no more hazard than formerly. - It may be instructive to present 
some example of the moderation of price referred to, which, all things considered, is really 
remarkable. 

Busine-s men are familiar with the phrase, "Ground is worth what money-making you 
can do on it." Inexact in form, the sense of this is plain enough. Upon this notion the 
almost inestimable value of space in Boston and parts of New York is justified. Now, hear- 
ing it said that a hundred millions would not reach the figure for this year's merchandizing 
on the square (containing three acres) bounded by Madison, Monroe, Franklin and Market 
streets, I had the curiosity to inquire what notion was entertained of the value of the mere 
ground, with reference to the subject in hand — viz., security for debt. Calling upon one of 
the best informed of the leading investing agents, he subjected the tract to his customary 
methods of computation (which he illustrated upon another piece of property, his own), and 
announced that the mere land was worth but $650,000. Taking the amount of business to be 
only $75,000,000, and the lot at $1,000,000, the case is still a great contrast to such in Eastern 
cities; while, if area could enter into the calculation, the price per square foot would, of course, 
be nothing to the pavement of gold which would have to be thick to buy many sites elsewhere. 
Another instance may be given. The Grand Pacific Hotel occupies a square containing an 
acre and a half, which, as"mere land, by the method of computation adopted in the former 
case, would be worth $500,000. But the building is known to have cost $1,000,000, and the 
furniture is said to demand at least $400,000 more. This hotel will be a success, or not. If 
permanently successful, it is obvious that, upon generally received principles, the demonstrated 
value of the site would exceed a million of dollars. In bargaining for it, suppose at this time, 
the average prospect of business success, therefore, would be a legitmate element; and hence, 
if instead of half a million it should be put at three-quarters, the price would not be immod- 
erate, while to make it distinctly "speculative'" it is evident that it must be vastly higher. 

Another evidence of a moderate and prudent spirit in valuing business ground here'is in 
the element of depreciation of real estate to be found in most of the early reckonings of loss 
by the fire — an element which so totally disappeared afterwards that even in the official assess- 
ments, state and city, for the current year, a large increase in the total real estate values is 
found. This hypothetical depreciation was set down by the Secretary of the Board of Trade, 
in his report of January, 1872, at 25 per cent, within the burnt district, though he had the 
sagacity to distrust it. But 50 per cent, was a common figure. 

With regard to overbuilding — a hazard to which western cities are exposed — we may 
well assumewithout particulars that it must be long before there can be more house room 
here than is wanted. But conceiving that the quality of it might possibly exceed due economy, 
thus rendering the investment of money in elegant structures too unprofitable to support 
interest on borrowed means, I give the result of my inquiries : 

Taking the first class structures of solid masonry, immense size, and durable completeness 
in all appointments for a definite use, I was surprised to find how little of the large sum of 
borrowed money went into them. With perhaps three notable exceptions, these great edi- 
fices of trade were built by men or corporations who could afford the outlay from their own 
means. In one of these exceptions, the borrower's city property other than the ground built 
on is said to be capable of satisfying the mortgages, whatever befalls his great building. 
Conversing with a citizen of distinguished intelligence, who happened to be marvellously 
familiar with this subject, he sketched on a paptr every square about which I inquired, mark- 
ing the buildings, block upon block, with respect to their cost, for what purpose built, by 
whose money, and substantially upon what hypothesis of t uccess. It was apparent that gen- 
eral failure would but very seldom, if it could at all under any probable circumstances, jeo- 
pard any loan used in building, within those squares which seem most likely to expose 
creditors. 

The lenders will now engage us. Among these are fourd foremost New England insur- 
ance companies, those of New York and many other statts being, as is well known, disabled 
by law from investing abroad. But without such restrictions the old and respectable Hart- 
ord and Boston concerns seem to make Chicago a favorite market for their accumulations. 









CHICAGO AS A BORROWER. 297 

The largest lender in Chicago is the Connecticut Mutual Life, which, through their loan agent 
here, Judge Mark Ski nner,"is iTnderstood to have out more than $10,000,000. The Phoenix 
Mutual Life, through their agents, Messrs. Baird & Bradley, the Union Mutual Life. Travelers' 
Life, Charter Oak, Hartford Life, John Hancock Life, New England Mutual, ^tna Life, Eco- 
nomical Life, Providence, are among the principal lenders "to Chicago. The Merchants' 
Fire, by the insolvency of which Chicago lost much, lost nothing by Chicago, having had 
large sums placed here. The Northwestern Mutual of Milwaukee is also a considerable lend- 
er. Besides the companies named, a large number of others operate in smaller sxims without 
organizing separate loan agencies. I understand a scheme is on foot for attracting English 
investment, with the hope, on the part of some, of lowering rates of interest. It was stimula- 
ed, perhaps, by the Boston fire, which for a time disturbed the borrowing class, with, how- 
ever, no permanent effect. Besides the above eastern lenders, are saving banks, charitable 
and eleemosynary institutions, and other corporations, A very large proportion — perhaps a 
third part — of the money loaned consists of trust funds of some description or other, including 
those of administrators, executors, guardians, etc. A great deal come from aged and retired 
capitalists — men " who have made their wills, deposited their funds with a Chicago manager 
of loans with instructions to go ,on re-investing paid up interest and not bother them about 
it," as an informant phrases it. Some individuals have out large sums. One firm here have 
$2,000,000 of one man, $1,500,000 of another- bpth New York men. 



NOTEWORTHY TRANSFERS. 



Of City and Suburban Property^ Affording Trustworthy Quotations of Prices from Sept., 

1873, Backward. 

ADAMS STREET. price per 

'DATE AND LOCATION. FRONT FEET. FRONT FOOT. 

18T0— Oct. 1, Northwest cor. Woodst '. 120 $100 

Nov. 16, East of Loomis St., north front 50 280 

Dec. 8, Between Clark and Dearborn sts., south front 26 1,000 

1871-Mar. 27, East of Paulina St., north front 125 150 

May 11, Southwest cor. Loomis st 56 177 

1872— Jan. 31, Southeast cor. Throop st. 48 200 

April 16, Between Wabash aud Michigan aves., north front 40 --- 425 

Sept. 2, East of Western ave., south front 132 120 

Sept. 3, Southeast cor. Wood st 225 .- 151 

Sept. 21, West of Western ave 26 38 

Oct. 4, Between Laflin and Loomis sts.. 120 268 

Dec. 5, Between Market and Franklin sts., north front 25 1,100 

Dec. 9, Northeast cor. Lincoln st . 96 105 

Dec. 18, Southeast cor. Oakley st 48 .. 82 

1873- Jan. 6, East of Oakley st 25 100 

Jan. 10, Southeast cor. Seely ave 127 135 

Feb. 1, East of Oakley st. 25 100 

Mar. 14, Between Wood and Honore sts., north front 47 128 

Mar. 29, Between Winchester and Robey sts., south front. 30 126 

Apr. 18, Near Sacramento ave., south front 150 36 

May 2, East of Honore st., south front 24 200 

May 14, East of Laflin st., north front 25 200 

May 20, West of Michigan ave., south front -- 24 500 

June 25, East of Wood st , north front 22 160 

July 29, Between Lincoln and Honore" sts., south front 22 136 

ASHLAND AVENUE. 

1870— June 1, South of York St., west front 265 120 

1871— Feb. 3, Northwest cor. Adams St.. 100 225 

Aug. 1, Southeast cor. Harrison st 135 150 

Aug. 3, Northwest cor. York st 100 145 

Sept. 15, Northeast cor. Harrison st 188 85 

1872— Nov. 12, Between Monroe and Adams sts 50 450 

Dec. 17, North of Henry st 24 75 

1873— Jan. 20, Northwest cor. Keenan st., east front... 25 43 

Jan. 23, Near Thirty-third st., west front 166 63 

Feb. 21, Between Hubbard and Kinzie sts., east front 24 63 

April 14, Between Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth sts., w. f... 25 40 

April 29, Between North Avenue and Blanche sts., west front 25 40 

April 29, Northwest cor. Van Buren st 80 250 

May 5, Southeast cor. Taylor st 50 310 

May 15, North of Indiana st., east front 24 62 

June 21, Northeast cor. Harrison st. 100 .. 175 

June 23, Between Adams and Jackson sts., west front 47 223 

Oct. 1, North of Jackson st.... 75 225 

CALUMET AVENUE. 

1870— July 20, North of Twenty-ninth st,, east front 20 320 

Sept, 1, South of Twenty-second st., east front 50 350 

1871— Mar. 1, North of Twenty-third st., east front.. 50 365 

Mar. 11, North of Twenty-third st,, east front. 30 350 

Mar. 11, North of Twenty-third st, east front 50 , 300 

April 15, North of Twenty-third st., west front 50 260 

Aug. 16, South of Twenty-third, east front. 60 

1872— Aug. 30, South of Twentieth st., east front 75 400 

Sept. 14. Between Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth sts 25 230 



NOTEWORTHY TRANSFERS. 299 

CALUMET AVENUE.— Continued. price per 

DATE AND LOCATION. FRONT FEET. FRONT FOOT. 

1873— Mar. 11, Between Twenty- second and Twenty-third sts.,e.f. 25 $100 

Mar. 18, North of Twenty-third St., west front 25 325 

Mar. 20, Near Twenty -eighth St., east front 25 260 

April 21, Northeast cor. Thirty-fifth St., west front 160 82 

May 28, North of Twenty-ninth st. 25 182 

July 15, Between Twenty-third and Twenty -fourth sts.,w. f. 25 350 

Aug. 1, Near Twenty-eighth st., south front 24 177 

CHICAGO AVENUE. 

1872— Sept, 5, Between Oakley and Leavitt sts, north front 48 27 

1873— Jan. 7, Southwest cor. Snell st., west front.. 25 - 60 

Mar. 10, Northeast cor. Kedzie ave 50 91 

Mar. 11, Between Wells and Franklin sts., north front 25 180 

Mar. 15, Between Wood and Paulina sts., north front 25 44 

April 2, West of Sangamon st., south front 25 100 

April 5, Near Eose St., south front - 25 84 

April 7, West of Sangamon st., south front. 25 --- 98 

April 8, West of Sangamon st., south front. 25 100 

April 10, Northwest cor. Green st 25 80 

April 18, Southwest cor. Robey st 25 52 

April 25, Southwest cor. Sangamon st 25 --- -.- 66 

April 28, Between Holt and Rose sts., south front 25 84 

May 2, West of Green st., south front 25 100 

CLARK STREET. 

1870— July 6, South of Center st., east front 75 90 

Sept. 10, South of Fourteenth st., west front.. 50 275 

Sept. 14, Northeast cor. Twelfth st 50 440 

Oct. 31, South of Jackson st., west front - 25 .... 800 

1871— Jan. 17, North of Harmon ct, east front.. 50 444 

Apr. 13. Southeast cor. Twelfth st 176 340 

Apr. 29, Southwest cor. Oak st. 102 145 

May 17, North of Polk st., east front 180 250 

Nov. 1, South of Monroe st., west front 24 800 

Dec. 29, South of Van Buren st., east front 25 550 

872- Jan. 1, North of Michigan st., east front 25 400 

Jan. 25, North of Van Buren st., west front 100 700 

Feb. 22, South of Jackson st., west front 60 800 

Mar. 5, Between Van Baren and Harrison sts., west front.. 50 600 

Mar. 20, South of Madison st., west front . 58 ..1,325 

July 2, South of Monroe St., west front 24 1,300 

July 26, South of Van Buren st., west front. 24 .'.... 587 

Sept. 2, Between Harrison and Van Baren sts._ 23 ' 430 

Sept. 11, Between Maple and Oak sts . 25 - 180 

Oct. 10, Between Jackson and Van Buren sts 40 . 850 

1873— Jan. 29, Southwest cor. South Water st. - 21 (shallow) - - 470 

Feb. 19, Between Thirteenth and Fourteenth sts., west front 54 266 

Mar. 24, South of Ohio st., east front 20 250 

April 10, Between Maple and Oak sts., east front.. - 25 184 

April 23, South of Taylor St., west front 25 280 

June 4, South of Eighteenth st., west front. 50 170 

Aug. 16, Near Goethe st., west front 25 115 

DEARBORN STREET. 

1870— Nov. 19, Northeast cor. Springer st 100 200 

1871— Mar. 19, Southeast cor. Maple st.. 103 125 

Mar. 30, Southeast cor. Superior st 80 150 

Dec. 21, Northwest cor. Burton Place 154 169 

1872— Jan. 11, North of Lake st., west front 30 — . 666 

Jan. 15, Northeast cor. Monroe. 190 800 

Mar. 12, North of Division st. 45 - 222 

Mar. 25, Between Washington and Randolph sts., w. f 60 1,000 

Mar. 25, Between Elm and Maple sts., east front 44 250 

May 7, Northeast cor. Schiller st 75 240 

Aug. 10, North of Washington st., west front 25 1,000 

Sept. 23, South of Chicago ave., east front 

Oct. 8, Between Superior and Huron sts., east front. 

Oct. 10, North of Schiller st., east front 

Dec. 11, South of Goethe st., east front 

1873— Jan. 15, South of North ave., east front 

Jan. 20, North of Division st., east front 



29 


173 


20 


200 


25 


240 


50 


209 


50 


175 


25 


240 



300 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

DEARBORN STREET.— Continued, price per 

DATE AND LOCATION. FRONT FEET. FRONT FOOT. 

1873— Jan. 25, Between Illinois and Michigan sts., west front 25 .•.. $200 

Feb. 10, Southeast cor. Monroe st 190 2,000 

Feb. 10, North of Goethe st 25 224 

May 29, Between Indiana and Ohio sts 24 130 

June 5, Southeast cor. Huron st 23 230 

June 30, South of Huron st., south front 35 150 

July 5, Northeast cor. Goethe st 50 200 

July 15. North of Goethe st., east front-,. ----- 25 225 

July 25, Between Superior and Huron sts., east front 20 200 

DIVISION STREET. 

1872— Sept. 21, Between Market and Franklin sts 22 300 

1873— Jan. 13, Between Bremer and Townsend 33 88 

May 28, West of Leavitt St., south front 25 40 

June 5, Between Larned and Paulina sts., north front 25 51 

June 14, East of Shober st., south front - 48 62 

July 2, East of Houston St., south front. 25 44 

July 31, Between Noble and Currier sts., south front 25 104 

HALSTED STREET. 

1870— Oct. 4, Northwest cor. Jackson st..._ 90 250 

Nov. 24, Southeast cor. Fulton st 56 - 285 

1871— Nov. 16, Near Monroe st 25 280 

HARRISON STREET. 

1872— Sept. 5, Between Robey and Hoyne sts., north front 25 48 

Sept. 14,. Between Ashland ave. and Lafiin st 25 86 

Dec. 2, Between Leavitt and Hoyne sts., north front 25 60 

Dec. 7, Between Oakley st. and Western ave 25 40 

Dec. 7, Between Oakley st. and Western ave., south front . 25 40 

1873— Jan. 31, Between Oakley st. and Western ave., south front. 25 40 

Feb. 1, Between Centre Ave. and May st., north front 25 71 

Feb. 23, Between Clinton and Jefferson sts., north front... 50 170 

Mar. 1, Between Aberdeen and Sholto st., south front 25 140 

Mar. 1, Between Oakley st. and Western ave., north front. 25 ..- 48 

Mar. 1, Southwest cor. Oakley st. -. 75 '.. 66 

Mar. 13, Between Oakley st. and Western ave., north front 25 52 

Mar. 27, Between Rockwell and Campbell aves., north front 25 22 

Mar. 27, Between Aberdeen and Morgan sts., south front.. 50 100 

April S, Between Hoyne and Leavitt sts., south front 25 64 

May 1, West of Leavitt st., south front 25 60 

May 12, Southwest cor. Centre ave., north front 50 132 

May 28, Between Robey and Hoyne sts., north front 25 50 

July 25, West of Centre ave., north front -. 25 100 

July 28, West of Sherman St., north front. 25 144 

Aug. 4, West of Robey St., south front 25 65 

Aug. 18, Southeast cor. Sacramento ave. 75 27 

INDIANA AVENUE. 

1870— Feb. 22, North of Eighteenth st., west front 50 300 

Mar. 5, South of Thirty-first St.. west front 50 200 

Mar. 14, South of Twenty-ninth st., east front... „, 100 150 

Aug. 17, North of Twenty-sixth st., east front 50 225 

Dec. 15, North of Twenty-second st., east front. 50 320 

1871— March 27, South of Sixteenth st., west front 40 300 

June 2, Between Twenty-third and Twenty- fourth sts., e. f. 50 223 

June 10, South of Eighteenth st., east front 50 . 350 

July 5, South of Thirty-ninth St., east front 100 - 100 

Aug. 7, Northeast cor. Fifty-third 300 60 

1872— Dec. 7, Between Belden and Fullerton aves., west front... 25 60 

Dec. 18, Near Fifteenth st., east front 25 200 

Dec. 24, South of Oneida St., east front 25 40 

Dec. 25, Southeast cor. Thirty -third st... 312 75 

Dec. 25, Northeast cor. Thirty-fourth st 286 77 

Sept. 16. Bet. Twenty-first and Twenty-second sts. , w. f . . . 50 320 

Oct. 1, Northeast cor. Thirtieth st 129 170 

Oct. 11, North of Twenty-ninth St., west front.. 25 160 

Nov. 1, Between Thirty-second and Thirty-third sts., w. f. 100 115 

Nov. 9, South of Thirty -fourth St., east front. .- 50 .- 120 

1873— Jan. 23, Between Kinzie st. and Washington ave., e. f 40 - 259 

Feb. 20, Between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh sts., w.f. 48 54 

Feb. 20, Between Thirty -sixth and Thirty-seventh sts. , w. f . 24 54 



NOTEWORTHY TRANSFERS. 301 

INDIANA AVENUE.— Continued. price per 

DATE AND LOCATION. PRONT PEET. PRONT FOOT. 

1873— Mar. 5, North of Blackhawk St., west front 25 $88 

Mar. 8, South of Onondaga st., east front 25 - 92 

Mar. 12, North of Walsh St., east front 34 107 

Mar. 27, Between Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth sts.,w. f. 48 51 

April 1, Between Van Buren and Taylor sts., east front... 50 300 

April 20, Between Clay and Center sts., east front 50 40 

April 29, Northeast cor. Thirty-fourth st 286 94 

May 1, Between Kinzie and Carroll sts., east front 25 100 

May 15, Near Clay st., east front.. 25 40 

June 4, Southwest cor. Sophia st 75 57 

Aug. 11, North of Thirty-sixth St., west front 25 66 

Jan. 29, North of Thirty-fourth st., west front.. 24 125 

March 14, Southwest cor. Twenty-first st 100 250 

April 15, Bet. Twenty-first and Twenty-second sts., w. f... 25 ' 200 

April 24, Near Thirty-first St., West front 24 130 

April 27, Between Thirty -fourth "and Thirty -fifth sts., e. f.. 50 107 

May 12, South of Twenty-sixth st., west front 30 266 

May 17, South of Thirty-first St., west, front 25 160 

May 3D, South of Sixteenth st., west front 22 237 

June 27, Bet. Thirty-fourth and Thirty -fifth sts., w. front.. 25 120 

July 22, South of Twenty-sixth st., west front.. _ 30 200 

Aug. 8, South of Twenty-ninth St., east front 100 170 

INDIANA STREET. 

1871— Dec. 1, Southeast cor. Oakley st 96 155 

1872— June 5, Near Bickerdyke st., south front 25 80 

June 0, East of Hoyne St., south front 24 42 

July 3, West of Ada st., south front . 30 133 

July 17, East of Dearborn St., north front 40 185 

Aug. 1, Northeast, cor. Lincoln st., west front 25 80 

Aug. 4, Between Dearborn and State sts., south front 20 200 

Aug. 5, Between Armour and Bickerdyke sts., south front. 50 100 

Sept. 11, Between Peoria and Green sts 31 97 

Nov. 5, Southeast cor. Franklin st 75 207 

1873— Feb. 15, Between Clark and Dearborn sts 20 150 

Feb. 25, Between Roby and Lincoln sts., north front 25 100 

Mar. 7, Between Noble and Ada sts., north front.. 37 82 

April 19, Northeast cor. LaSalle st 45 1.. 144 

April 22, Between Elizabeth and Ada sts., south front 50 . 100 

May 17, Near Market St., north front 25 130 

May 21, East of Union St., north front . 75 85 

JACKSON STREET. 

1870— Julv 21, East of State st., south front 40 ... .. 600 

1871— Jan. 8, West of Wabash ave., south front 26 700 

May 10, East of Throop st., south front ■ 50 220 

1872— Jan. 13, Northwest cor. Clinton st. 106 236 

Feb. 8, Northwest cor. Franklin st., south front 32 469 

Feb. 15, East of Fourth ave 50 1,000 

Mar. 3, Between Morgan and Sangamon sts. , south front . . 25 205 

Mar. 13, Between Lincoln and Honore sts., north front 24 86 

April 12, East of Ashland avenue, south front .. 25 150 

April 10, West of Campbell st., north front 56 54 

April 21, East of Halsted St., north front 25 192 

April 22. Southeast cor. Robey st,, north front 50 90 

April 22, Southeast cor. Robey St., north front 25 90 

May 1, Cor. Sangamon st 197 406 

May 26, Northeast cor. Honore st. 25 112 

May 28, Southeast corner Throop st. 85 140 

Oct. 1, West of State St., north front... 24 900 

Oct. 1, East of Hoyne St., south front 25 110 

Oct. 3, Between Third ave. and State st. 20 1,000 

Dec. 5, East of Laflin st., south front 125 150 

Dec. 5, West of Loomis st., south front 100 150 

1873— Jan. 27, Between Wabash and Michigan aves., north front. 81 864 

KINZIE STREET. 

1872— Sept 4, Between Lincoln and Wood sts 50 ... •__ 50 

Oct. 26, Between Dtarborn and State sts 20 300 

Nov. 18, Between Wells and LaSalle sts. 13 308 

Dec. 4, Between Lincoln and Wood sts. 50 40 

1873— April 1, Near Robey St., south front 25 28 

April 29, East of Armour st., south front 22 50 

June 6, West of Leavitt St., south front 24 42 



302 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

LAKE STREET. price per 

DATE AND LOCATION. FRONT FEET. FRONT FOOT. 

1870— Mar. 1, Northeast cor. Green st 50 ... &200 

Oct. 8, East of Ada St., north front 26 446 

1871— June 1, East of Paulina St., north front 50 240 

Oct. 19, East of Fifth ave., north front 20 600 

1872— Feb. 1, Westof Green st., north front 50 340 

Mar. 1, East of State St., south front 11 909 

Apr. 12, East of Wabash ave., north front 24 803 

May 23, East of State St., south front 22 1,000 

Sept. 2, Northwest cor. Kedzie ave 396 40 

Sept. 7, Between Lincoln and Wood sts., south front 50 127 

Uct. 3, Between Clinton and Canal sts., north front 43 465 

Nov. 1, East of La Salle st., south front 20 750 

Dec. 12, Between Lincoln and Wood sts., north front 30 200 

Dec. 17, Between Halsted and Union sts., south front 20 275 

1873— Jan. 1, Between May and Curtis sts., south front 50 170 

Jau. 1, Between Union and Desplaines sts., north front... 23 326 

Feb. 1U, Northwest cor. Oglesby st., south front 100 53 

Feb. 14, Near Valentine st., south front 24 63 

Feb. 15, West of Peoria St., south front 50 125 

Feb. 26, Between Lincoln and Wood sts., north front 50 165 

Mar. 25, West of San Francisco St., south front 25 52 

April 5, West of Lainbier st., south front .-. 24 55 

April 21, East of Davlin St., south front.. 27 .... 42 

April 30, East of Dearborn St., south front 20 800 

May 10, East of Clark st., south front 20 .1,000 

June 14, Southeast cor. Staunton st.. 48 83 

LA SALLE STREET. 

1871— Jan. 28, Northeast cor. Monroe st 80 1,487 

1872— June 25, Between Lake and Water sts., east front 20 500 

Sept. 13, Between Division and Goethe sts 85 153 

Oct. 16, Northwest cor. Erie st 25 160 

Dec. 10, Between Randolph and Court Place 23 888 

1873— Jan. 17, Near McCagg Place, east front 25 200 

April 4, Near McCagg Place, east front 25 200 

May 12, North of Division St., west front 50 125 

May 27, South of Maple St., west front 25 150 

June 4, South of Maple St., west front 30 166 

June 27, South of Marble Place, east front 30 1,000 

July 31, South of Ontario St., west front 27 124 

MADISON STREET. 

1870— May 23, Northwest cor. Page st.... 112 162 

July 16, East of Green St., south front 70 600 

July 29, West of Halsted St., south front 25 600 

Sept. 13, West of Lafiin st., north front 50 260 

Oci. 2», West of Lincoln st., south front 75 160 

Nov. 1, East of Franklin St., south front 30 750 

1871— Oct. 28, East of Market st., north front 22 416 

Dec. 7, West of LaSalle st., north front 30 1,040 

Dec. 7, Southeast cor. Peoria st '.. 125 616 

Dec. 19, West of Fifth ave., south front 50 .1,050 

1872-Jan. 5, West of Halsted st 25 600 

Jan. 16, East of Green st 70 600 

Jau. 25. West of Fifth ave., north front 22 .1,034 

Feb. 23, Northwest cor. Franklin st 81 390 

Mar. 1, Northeast cor. Carpenter st 50 560 

Mar. 15, West of Aberdeen St., north front 25 400 

April 1, Northeast cor. Fifth ave 80 1,250 

May 21, Westof LaSalle St., north front.. 30 1,466 

1873-Jau. 1, East of Rockwell st, 15 110 

Jau. 18, West of Kedzie ave.. north front 50 50 

Jan. 18, West of Kedzie ave., north front 100 50 

Jan. 24, West of Spaulding ave., uorth front 25 42 

Feb. 3, Between Winchester ave., and Robey St., n. f 24 100 

Feb. 20, Near Kedzie ave., north front 200 52 

Mar. 1, Southeast cor. Kedzie ave 125 72 

Mar. 4, West of Kedzie ave., north front 25 60 

M ar. 6, Southeast cor. St. Louis ave. , north front 75 92 

Mar. 13, Near Kedzie ave , north front 50 50 

April 10, East of Frankliu St., south front 50 1,250 

April 18, West of Loomis St., north front.. 24 160 

May 25, Near Oakley St., south front 60 142 



NOTEWORTHY TRANSFERS. 30 

MICHIGAN AVENUE. price per 

DATE AND LOCATION. FRONT FEET. FRONT FOOT. 

1870— Mar. 1, South of Fourteenth st., west front 52 $290 

Mar. 20. North of Jackson St., east front 40 1,000 

July 1, South of Twenty-fifth St., east front... 50 170 

Sept. 9, South of Thirteenth St., west front. 48 400 

Sept. 24, South of Twenty-ninth St., east front 50 210 

Oct. 22, Northeast cor. Forty-first st. 300 150 

Oct. 26, North of Twenty-fifth st 60 250 

Nov. 10, North of Eighteenth st., east front 30 350 

Nov. 14, Southwest cor. Douglas Place 90 145 

Dec. 6, South of Eighteenth st., east front 29 450 

Dec. 19, South of Fourteenth st., west front 52 345 

1871— Feb. 1, South of Congress st., east front. 26 770 

Feb. 14, South of Fourteenth St., west front 52 346 

June 13, Southwest cor. Forty-sixth st 841x342 100 

July 25, North of Madison st/, east front 24 1,166 

Oct. 6, South of Twenty -ninth st., west front 100 175 

1872— Jan, 15, South of Jackson St., east front. 40 1,000 

Feb. 9, South of Thirtieth St., east front.. 72 150 

Mar. 2, South of Adams st., east front 40 700 

Mar. 11, South of Fourteenth st., west front 30 533 

Mar. 15, Southeast cor. River st.. 34 1,030 

Mar. 16, North of Sixteenth st., west front 40 350 

Mar. 21, Northwest cor. of Thirtieth st 94 245 

Aug. 21, Southwest cor. Van Buren st 28 1,000 

Sept. 9, South of Thirteenth st., west front 48 521 

Sept. 21, North of Sixteenth st., west front 40 350 

Sept. 21, Northeast cor. Thirty-second st., west front 97 140 

Oct. 26, South of Adams st., east front 34 675 

1873— Jan. 20, Between Madison and Monroe sts., east front 40 825 

Feb. 1, Between Lake and Randolph sts.. west front. 50 1,500 

Feb. 20, North of Twenty-sixth st., west front . 110 330 

Mar. 7, Between Fourteenth and Fifteenth sts., west front. 40 350 

Mar. 8, North of Thirty -third St., east front 25 200 

Mar. 8, North of Thirty-third st., east front 50 200 

May 3, South of Fourteenth st., west front 40 310 

July 3, Near Kedzie ave., east front 50 60 

July 19, Near Monroe St., east front 48 1,017 

MICHIGAN STREET. 

1872- Jan. 17, Northeast cor. Pine st 75 260 

June 12, Southeast cor. Clark st. 40 1,000 

MONROE STREET. 

187U— May 12, Southwest cor. State st. ..- 120 . 958 

1871— Oct. 19, East of Market St., south front 45 - 505 

Nov. 6, East of Market St., south front 23 565 

Dec. 1, East of Market St., south front 23 490 

Dec. 29, East of Fifth ave,, north front 23 666 

1872— March 8, East of Dearborn st 49 1,326 

April 1, West of Clinton st., north front 48 300 

April 4, Northeast cor. Desplaines st 75 388 

Mar. 12, East of Market st., north front. 90 722 

Oct. 4, Between Wood and Paulina sts... 25 135 

Oct. 9, East of Western ave., south front 33 100 

Oct. 29. Between Wood and Paulina sts., north front 25 135 

Dec. 17, Between Page and Wood sts., north front 25 131 

Dec. 30, Between Robey and Winchester sts., north front.. 24 100 

1873 -Jan. 1, East of Clinton st., north front 40 225 

Feb. 6, W T est of Loomis St., south front 25 200 

Mar. 7, Wtst of California ave., north front. 25 40 

Mar. 17, Near Lincoln st., south front 25 102 

Mar. 18, Near Kedzie ave., south front 49 52 

April 8, Between Lincoln and Honore\ south front 64 __ 125 

April 18, West of Loomis St., south front 49 204 

April 24, West of Wood St., north front 22 125 

PRAIRIE AVENUE. 

1870— Mar. 15, North of Twenty-first st., west front 50 300 

Aug. 15, North of Twentieth st., west front 55 342 

Dec. 6, South of Twenty-first St., west front 50 352 

Dec. 23, North of Twentieth st„ wtst front Ill 348 

1871— April 6, South of Eighteenth St.. east front 68 475 

May 5, South of Twenty-fourth st 50 250 



1 



ll 



3°4 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



PRAIRIE AVENUE.— Continued. 

DATE AND LOCATION. FRONT FEET. 

18*72— April 5, Southeast cor, Thirtieth st 75 ... 

Oct. 26, North of Twenty-first St., east front- - 23 ... 

Oct. 26i Northwest cor. Twenty -first st. . 41 

Oct. 26, North of Twenty-first St., east front 19 ... 

1873— Feb. 13, South of Thirtieth st., east front .. 48 .... 

Mar. 1, Between Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth sts., e. f... 25 ... 

Mar. 19, North of Twenty-ninth St., east front-.. 75 ... 

Mar. 29, South of Thirtieth st., east front 48 ... 

April 1, Between Thirty-second and Thirty-third sts., e. f. 25 ... 

April 4, North of Thirty-seventh st., west front 33 ... 

April 8, Near Twenty-fourth St., west front. 24 ... 

May 16, Between Thirtieth and Thirty-first sts., west front 60 ... 

June 24, North of Thirty-fifth st., east front , 25 ... 

July 22, South of Sixteenth st., west front. 50 ... 

July 22, Northeast cor. Thirty-seventh st 64 ... 



PRICE PER 
FRONT FOOT. 
--. $165 
.... 425 
— . 480 
.... 416 • 
.... 170 
.... 380 
.... 240 
.... 166 
.... 145 
— . 100 
.... 96 
— . 160 
.... 80 
.... 210 
— . 96 



RANDOLPH STREET. 

1870— Sept. 26, East of LaSalle st, south front 

Nov. 1, Southeast cor. Sangamon st 

Nov. 18, East of Market St., south front 

1871 — Jan 9, Southeast corner Willard place 

Dec. 1, West of Franklin st., north front 

Dec. 13, East of LaSalle St., south front ... 

• Dec. 22, East of State St., north front 

1872-Feb. 16, West of LaSalle St., south front 

Oct. 17, West of Green St., south front 

Oct. 29, East of Clark st. 

Nov. 1, Between Morgan and Carpenter sts 

Nov. 25, Between Jefferson and Clinton sts. 

-Jan. 9, Between Aun and May sts., north front 

Mar. 7, West of Ada st 

Mar. 8, Between Sheldon and Ada sts., north front 

Mar. 13, Southwest cor. Sangamon st., north front .. . 

July 1, Northeast cor. Peoria st 

Aug. 6, West of Fifth ave 



20 2,000 



125 

20 
100 

20 

60 

76 

40 1,000 



224 
. 600 
. 160 
. 750 
2,113 
. 722 



1873- 



SOUTH WATER STREET. 



1870— Mar. 29, Northwest cor. Clark st 

1872— Feb. 15, East of Wabash ave., south front 

Dec. 1, Between State and Dearborn sts., north front 
1873— Feb. 15, East of Wabash ave., south frout 

June 7, West of LaSalle St., north front 

June 28, West of State St., south frout 

June 28, Northeast cor. Dearborn st., south front 



STATE STREET. 

1870— June 3, South of Monroe St., east front 

June 11, South of Jackson St., west front 

Aug. 2, Southwest cor. Taylor st 

Aug. 13, South of Harrison St., east front 

1871 — Mar. 6, North of Hubbard court, west front 

June 11, North of Jachson st., west front 

Aug. 22, North of Monroe st., west front 

1872 — Jan. 15, Northwest cor. Washington st 

Feb. 16, South of Polk St., east front 

Mar. 16, South of Jackson st 

Mar. 20, South of Polk st 

April 17, South of Van Buren st., east front 

Sept. 9, Between Thirty -first and Thirty-second sts 

Sept. 19, Between Thirtieth and Thirty-first St.. 

Sept. 25, North of Madison St., east front 

Oct. 1, South of Twenty-eighth st., west front 

Oct. 1, Southwest cor. Couch place. 

Oct. 22, Northeast cor. Monroe st. 

Oct. 28, Southwest cor. Superior st 

1873 — Jan. 4, South of Twenty -fourth st., west front 

Jan, 24, Between Chicago ave. and Superior St., east front. 

Feb. 5, Between Sixteenth and Seventtenth sts., east front 

Feb. 21, Between Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth sts., 
east front 

Mar. 1, Between Twenty -ninth and Thirtieth sts., east front 

Mar. 1, Southwest cor. Twenty -ninth st 

Mar. 7, Between Thirty -first and Thirty-second sts.,e. f. .. 

Mar. 12,,North of Washington st., east front 



50 
50 
25 
18 
25 

125 
25 

126 
80 
80 



80 
25 
10 
48 
40 
64 
96 



25 
20 
50 
33 
20 
20 
45 
160 
25 
20 
25 
25 
24 
25 



300 

1,200 

. 220 

. 444 

. 180 

. 212 

. 212 

160 

175 

1,000 



1,062 
418 
670 
710 

. 500 
475 
465 



1,500 

. 700 

. 600 

565 

. 650 

700 

2,000 

2,063 

. 480 

1,000 

492 

. 640 

146 

. 112 



30 2,000 



40 
100 
26 
25 
30 
25 
25 

25 
25 
50 
25 
90 



135 

. 1,125 

1,923 

. 200 

. 136 

165 
. 250 

100 

. 120 

130 

134 

1,611 



NOTEWORTHY TRANSFERS. 305 

STATE STREET.— Continued. pbice per 

DATE AND LOCATION, FRONT FEET. FRONT FOOT. 

1873— Mar. 22. North of Thirty-second St., east front 25 $130 

Mar. 22, South of Twenty-ninth st., east front. 25 140 

April 21, South of Quincy st., east front - 20 1,250 

June 20, South of Tnirty -first St., east front 50 178 

July 5, Northeast cor. Thirty-ninth st 100 125 

Aug. 5, Between Thirty -first and Thirty-second sts.,w. f. .. 25 124 

TWELFTH STREET. 

1872-Sept. 10, Northeast cor. .Lincoln st 25 40 

Oct. 1, East of Western ave., south front 25 50 

Oct. 5, East of Rohey st., south front.. 25 .. 50 

Oct. 5, East of Robey st., south front... , 36 50 

Oct. 10, Northwest cor. Wood st 25 62 

Oct. 10, West of Wood st., south front. 25 40 

Oct. 30, East of Clark st., south front 20 300 

Nov. 16, Southeast cor. Lincoln st 25 48 

Dec. 11, Between Blue Island and Centre aves 25 150 

1873— Jan. 6, Southeast cor. Wood st 25 74 

Mar. 3, Between Wood and Paulina sts., north front. 25 56 

Mar. 22, Near Lincoln st._, north front 20 80 

Mar. 22, Southeast cor. Lincoln st 25 40 

April 1, East of Wood st., north front 24 66 

April 2, Northeast cor. Western ave 25 48 

May 5, Southeast cor. Paulina st., north front... 25 68 

May 16, Northeast cor. Western ave 50 53 

June 1, Between Clinton and Jefferson sts., south front 50 160 

TWENTY -SECOND STREET. 

1872— Sept. 3. West of Paulina st 25 52 

Sept. 11, West of Lincoln st., north front.. 25 45 

Sept. 25, Southeast cor. Grant court 24 50 

Oct. 1, West of Paulina st., north front 25 ...i 50 

Nov. 5, West of Lincoln st., south front 25 40 

Dec. 17, Northeast cor. Robey st 26 55 

1873— Jan. 20, West of Lincoln St., north front 73 50 

Jan. 20, East of Robey st., south front 25 48 

April 1, East of Wood st., north front 25 66 

April 30, West of Hoyne St., north front. 25 .... ±... 50 

April 30, Southwest cor. Hoyne St.. 50 56 

May 5, Southeast cor. Paulina st 25 68 

May 16, Southeast cor. Lincoln st 78 56 

May 19, West of Lincoln st., south front 25 50 

May 21, West of Lincoln st., south front .-. 25 48 

June 2, East of Robey st., south front - 25 48 

June 9, Northeast cor. Loomis st - 25 r 100 

VAN BUREN STREET. 

1871— Mar. 20, East of Fourth ave., south front. 50 860 

1872— Mar. 1, East of Wabash ave., north front 23 550 

Mar. 2, Southwest cor. Desplaines st 100 250 

Mar. 5, West of Centre ave., south front 96 138 

May 1, East of Wabash ave., south front — 22 590' 

Oct. 15, Northwest cor. Loomis st 50 200 

1873— Jan. 6, Northwest cor. Third ave. 50 900 

Mar. 21, Southeast cor. Sacramento st 28 43 

Mar. 21, Between Hoyne and Seeley sts., north front 25 96 

May 22, East of Pacific ave., north front 50 350 

July 1, Northeast cor. Laflin st. . 100 150 

WABASH AVENUE. 

1870— Sept. 5, Southeast cor. Adams st., east front 10 1,000 s 

Sept. 19, Between Jackson and VanBuren sts., west front. 55 1,000 

Oct. 3, Northeast cor. Adams St., west front.. 80 1,520 

Oct. 23, South of Harrison st 40 1,100 

Oct. 25, South of Twelfth st., west front 25 500 

Nov. 7, South of Eighteenth st., west front 40 500 

Nov. 19, South of Thirty-second st 50 100 

Nov. 23, North of Twelfth st, east front 40 500 

Dec. 6. North of Eighteenth St., west front 30 500 

Dec. 8, South of Twenty -fifth st., east front. 62 251 

Dec. 18, Between Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth sts., e. f.. 25 240 

Dec. 23, Between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth sts., e. f._ 50 150 

1871— April 1, South of Twenty-ninth st., east front 100 160 

April 12, North of Jackson st., east front 60 500 

April 27, North of Jackson st., east front 70 107 

20 



306 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



WABASH AVENUE.— Continued. price per 

DATE AND LOCATION. FRONT FEET. FRONT FOOT. 

1871- Aug. 1, Northeast cor. Washington st 96 $1,650 

Oct. 27, South of Madison St., west front 20 1,500 

Oct. 30, South of Congress St., east front 24 688 

Nov. 13, South of Congress St., west front 26 770 

Nov. 17, North of Jackson St., west front 27 1,000 

1872— Feb. 20, South of Harmon court, west front 40 400 

Feb. 27, South of Jackson st., west front. 25 1,000 

Mar. 1, South of VanBuren St., west front 27 900 

Mar. 6, Southeast cor. Adams st 80 1,500 

Mar. 21, South of Jackson st., east front 25 1,200 

April 9, South of VanBuren st., east front 40 1,075 

April 9, South of Jackson st., west front.. 50 1,200 

April 11, North of Adams St., west front. 40 1,200 

April 15, North of Congress st., east front 40 1,250 

April 24, Southeast cor. Twentieth st 73 342 

April 24, South of Adams st., west front 37 . ._ 865 

May 6, Northwest cor. Thirty-seventh st. 100 140 

May 7, North of Kandolph st., west front 60 1,030 

June 22, Northeast cor. Thirty-ninth st 100 123 

July 11, South of Fourteenth st., west front... 50 400 

July 29, North of Adams St., east front. 20 I,4n0 

:187 3— Jan. 1, South of Thirteenth St., west front 25 480 

Feb. 1, North of Thirty-first st., west front 25 142 

Feb. 14, Southeast cor. Thirty-second st.. 97 177 

Feb. 14, South of Thirty -second St., west front 50 170 

Feb. 15, North of Thirty -fourth st., east front 50 150 

Feb. 21, Northwest cor. Thirty-second st 97 180 

Mar. 26, South of Jackson St., east front 40 1,000 

Mar. 26, South of Thirty -fifth st., west front 25 100 

Aug. 6, South of Washington st., east front. 48 1,250 

WASHINGTON STREET. 

H870 -Nov. 4, Southeast cor. Lincoln st 50 260 

1871— Jan. 4, Southwest cor. Desplaines st 60 417 

Nov. 10, Northwest cor. Wabash ave 25 1,600 

:1872— Jan. 7, West of Franklin st., south front 21 571 

Jan. 15, Near Halsted st 60 300 

April 1. Northeast cor. May st 1 50 615 

April 22, Corner of Halsted st 50 420 

April 22, West of Union st., north front 30 400 

May 20, Near Union st. 60 366 

June 1, West of Union st., north front 60 400 

June 19, Northwest cor. Carpenter st.. 100 350 

July 3, West of La Salle St., north front 40 1,680 

July 13, Near Ada st. 40 300 

July 15, Between Elizabeth and Ann sts., north front 100 350 

Oct. 1, West of LaSalle st., north front 40 1,687 

Oct. 16, Between Dearborn and State sts 40 900 

Dec. 12, Between Clark and Dearborn sts., south front 40 1,250 

71873— Feb. 1, Between Hoyne and Robey sts 60 166 

April 5, Near Falls st., south front 25 60 

April lo, Southeast cor. Staunton ave 25 100 

une 1, Southeast cor. Wood st 30 200 



SALES REPORTED BY DEALERS. 

The object of the foregoing tables of sales of Chicago city property is to show, as well as 
imay be done from the public records, the selling value of land on the streets specified. It 
'Should be understood, however, that there are often circumstances attending these transfers 

which are not indicated in the instruments, and which therefore make the consideration re- 
• cited therein a comparatively unreliable index of the actual price paid for the land. Where 

this state of things was obvious, however, to a well informed observer, the quotation has 

not been used. 

In the lists which follow, we have in every case the word of a reputable firm that the 

transaction was simple and bona fide, and hence a good criterion of prices at the dates or 
iperiods specified in the quotation. 

SALES BY HENRY J. GOODRICH. 

The following are among the city sales of Mr. H. J. Goodrich during the past, few ytars: 
In 1869, lot 22x190 ft et on Madison street, 200 feet west of Dearborn, for $21,000. Thi» 
ot, if vacant, would now bring $35,000. 






, 



SAMPLE TRANSACTIONS. 307 

In 1868, lot 40 Let front on Monroe street, about 100 feet west of Wabash avenue, at $500 
per front foot. The property is now a part of the site of Potter Palmer's hotel, and woulu be 
appraised at about $1,200 per foot, had the hotel never been thought of. 

In 1869, lot 150 feet front, on Michigan avenue, corner of Twenty-ninth street, at $;50 per 
foot; 100 feet on State street, between "Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth streets, at $12 per foot ; 
125 feet on Indiana avenue, south of Thirty-fifth street, at $ »5 per foot; and 225 feet on Prairie 
avenue, between Thirty -fourth and Tliirty-fifth streets, at $35 p.r foot. All these prices have 
advanced since 1869, the average being about 80 per cent. j 

In property outside the city limits, Mr. Goodrich reports the following transactions: 

In 1868, sold 200 feet on Michigan avenue, north ox Forty -eighth street, at $J3 per foot; 
now worth $70. 

In 186S, sold 100 feet on the same avenue, south of Fifty-fifth street, at $20 per foot, which 
could hardly be bought for less than $ i5 per foot at present. 

In 1868, five acres, corner of Fifty-ninth street and Indiana avenue, at $1,000 per acre; 
now worth $50 per foot, or $10,000 per acre; also three acres in Morgan & Johnson's sub- 
division, west of Cottage Grove avenue, between Fony-second and Forty-third streets, at 
$1,S00 per acre; now worth $14,000 per acre; also four ten-acre blocks in section 31, township 
of Hyue Park (38, 14), at $200 per acre; now worth $1,000 per acre. In 1872, twenty acres of 
this tract were again sola by ivir. G. at $.'50. 

In 1870. sold 40 acres in section 16, town 37, 14. at $200 per acre; re-sold 20 acres in 1873, 
at $150. 

In 1863, sold 20 acres in Stave's subdivision, section 25, 38, 14, at $250 per acre; re-sold 
in 1873 at $1,209 per acre. 

In 187U, sold 10 acres in the northeast quarter of section 27, 38, 14, at $ i00 ; re-sold five acres 
in 1872 at $1,500 per acre. 

In 1869, sold two acres in Bayley's subdivision on Cottage Grove avenue, north of Fifty- 
first street, at $2,250 p^r acre; re-sold in 1871 at $1,700, and now worth $ j 5 U00 per Acre. 

In 1869, sold five acres fronting west on VinceimeS avenue, north of Forty-fifth street, at 
$16,000 for the whole ; now worth $30,000. 

In 186S, sold the north half of section 19, 39, 13, (Cicero) at $225 per acre; now worth 
$1,000 p.r acre. 

In 1868, sold forty lots, each 25 x 125, in Johnson's subdivision, in the southeast quarter of 
section 4, 3S, 14, at $200 per lot on the average; re-sold soon after several lots at $/M. and 
those on State street are now bringing $1,500. 

In 1870, sold 100x120 feet corner of l^aagley street and Egan avenue at $100 per iront foot. 
But little advanced in salable value now. 

In 1868, sold eighty acres in section 34, 33, 14, (near the southernmost park) for $5,400, the 
whole tract. Of this, twenty acres were sold in 1872 for $20,000. 

In 1870, sold 70x170 feet on Cottage Grove avenue, south of Union avenue for $">,000; now 
worth about $5,000, though much property in that locality has advanced but little in the 
period named. Tne sale referred to must have been a sacrifice. 

BY CHACE & A BELL. 

A twenty -acre tract in Hyde Park near Sixty-seventh street was purchased a few years ago 
for $75 per acre; last year an offer of $1,500 was refused. 

Another tract of eighty acres near Sixtieth street was purchased less than ten years ago 
at $150 per acre. It is now held at from $4,000 to $ ;,i'00 per acre. 

I11 1861 a tract of sixty acres on Stony Island avenue, near Seventy-first street, was pur- 
chased for $5,150. Within three months of the day of purchase, forty acres of this tract 
was sold for $5,000. The remaining twenty acres are held at $2,500 each; at which figure 
sales have been made in the tract just opposite. 

A tract of forty acres lying near the Goodrich Steamboat company's property, in sections 
31, 38, 15, purchased last year at $750 per acre, has since been sold at $1,250 per acre. 

Twenty acres between Seventieth and Seventy-first streets, running east on Stony Island 
avenue, was purchased in 1868 for $7,500. In 1870 it was sold to the ParksL,e Homestead 
Association for $ j2,500. 

Tne south eighty acres of the southeast quarter of sections 26, 38, 14, was sold, in 1867, at 
$350 per acre. Within a year, five acre blocks have been sold at $2,500 per acre; and one 
block fronting on Stony Island avenue at $3,000 per acre. An undivided one-ihir,i inteieot 
in this land was sold in 1868 for $7,000. Tne same is now worth $2,500 per acre. 

Property on South Park avenue, which five years ago was worth le?s than $1,000 per acre, 
now realizes $200 per front foot. Two lots bought in 1867 for $1,750 cash, were sold in 1869 
for $1,000. 

In 1868 a lot 160 feet frontage on Oak street was purchased at $10 per foot. The same 
property was sold during the present year at $iU0 per foot. 

BY W. D. KERFOOT. 

Twenty acres in block 25 o.* section 33, 39, 14, sold in 1864 at $250 per acre. Subsequently 
the land was subdivided and sold out in lois at the rate of $5,000 per acre. 

Sixty acr.s on Archer road, at the corner of Reuben street, was sold in 1870 for $10,000. 
After subdivision, the property retailed for $200,000 in total. Mr. SLintsou purchased the tract 
in 1848 of the Canal Trustees, for $2.50 p^r acre. 

The Hon. R. T. Merrick of Washington, loaned to G. W. Clarke $1,000 in 1856, and took 
in security forty acr^s in section 31, 38, 15. VVaen the sum was due, Clarke was unable to 
meet the payment, but offered to deed the laal to Merrick in lieu of the money. Merrick 



3 o8 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



did n't want the land, but said he would take $500, and give receipt for entire bill. This 
Clarke could wot do, and Merrick took the land. Last October he refused an offer of $50,000 
for it, and holds it now at $30,000. 

In 1861, eighty feet of the old "Opera House lot" was sold at $500 per foot — $24,000. 
Since the great" fire this lot was sold for $136,000. 

In 1864 the northwest corner of Clark and Madison streets, with a marble building, was 
sold for $35,000. Since the fire, and while the property was vacant, an offer of $50,000 has 
been refused. A lot 80x180 feet on Madison street, south front, west of Clark street, and 
formerly known as the Trinity Church lot, sold in 1861 for $12,000 cash. Five years afterwards 
the owner was offered $'30,000 for it aud refused. The property has recently been appraised 
by three experts for leasing at $160,000, and leased on that basis. 

The lot known as the "•Unitarian Church property," on the north side of Washington, 
betweeu Clark and Dearborn streets, and now occupied by the United States Express build- 
ing, was sold in 1861 for $-250 per foot. The Express Company paid, while the lot was vacant 
after the fire, $1,700 per foot for 40 feet of it. 

The lot at the southwest corner of State street and Calhoun Place, sold in 1863 for $250 
per foot. Since the fire it brought $1,700 per foot. 

BY J. P. OLINGER. 

In 1868, 100 feet at the northwest corner of Michigan avenue and Twenty-sixth street sold 
on time payments for $4,000. In 1872 an offer oi $15,000 to the present owner was refused. 

Mr. Oliuger had tne Kendall block site, southwest corner Dearborn and Washington 
streets, for sale eight years ago, for $12,000, the lot being 40x90 feet. Pour years afterwards 
the property was neld at $2,000 per loot. Two years after that the property was asked for 
at $2,500 per foot, and refused. It is now held at $3,000 per foot. Mr. Kendall was offered, 
three mouths ago, for the land and block, $275,001) cash, by a New York capitalist, which he 
declined. 

Mr. dinger purchased between Fifty-second and Fifty-third streets, on Wabash avenue, 
in 18b7, two acres located on both sides for $2,122. The property is worth now $24,000. 

BY ULRICH & BOND. 

In February, 1873, a five-acre tract, being block 15 in G. W. Clarke's subdivision of the 
east half of the northwest quarter of section 25, 38, 14, sold for $1,800 per acre. Retailed most 
of it since in 25 foot lots, at fifty per cent, advance. 

Ten acres on the southwest corner of Stony Island avenue and Seventy-fifth street was 
purcliasei, in the spring of 1872, for $21,500. One acre of it sold lately for $:3,3O0, cash; and 
lots in it sell at from $500 to $700 eacn, 100x200 feet. 

in 1865, 250 feet west front on Hyde Park avenue, at the northeast corner of 1 if ty -first 
street, was sold at $3 per foot. It was since (in 1870) sold at $50 per foot. It is held, now at 
$i.uO per foot. 

BY C. W, PIERCE. 

Twenty acres lying in the northwest quarter of section 15, 38, 14, was sold in October, 
1867, at $5o0 per acre. Subsequently subdivided and sold out at from $1,500 per acre, in 1868, to 
$iO,(X)J per acre, in 1873. It is now held at from $K) to $70 per foot. The land fronts on Mich- 
igan, Indiana, Prairie and Calumet avenues, ana is bounued north and south by Fifty-sixth 
and f iffy-ninth streets. 

In tne fall of 1868, ten acres lying between Thirty-ninth and Fortieth streets, and between 
Indiana and Prairie avenues, sola for $27,500. Lots in this tract have since sola at the rate of 
$18,000 per acre. 

In tne spring of 1869, ten acres adjoining the above on the south was bought for $50,000. 
Within six months thereafter lots in this tract were sold at $50 per foot, or at the rate of $t),000 
per acre. Tne minimum figure asked now for lots is at the rate of $18,000 per acre. 

In 1868, the five acres lying between Tnirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth streets, and fronting 
on Prairie and. Indiana avenues, were sold for $Lu,000. Sold again, in 1869, for $35,000; ana 
again, in 1870, for $io,000. It is now worth over $125,000. 

In 1869, five acres lying in the northwest quarter of school section 16, 38, 14, bounded on 
the north and south by Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh streets, and fronting on Stewart avenue, 
were bought for $300 per acre, aud sold last spring at $2,250 per acre. Lots on this tract are 
now selling at the rate of $3,500 per acre. 

In December, 1869, an eighty-acre tract in section 22, 38, 14, and lying between Sixty- 
seventh and Seventy-first streets, and State street and Indiana avenue, was bought for $20,500. 
It is now held to be worth $225,000. 

BY MASON & MILLS. 

In June, 1872, seven acres at the crossing of Humboldt boulevard and Armitage road, and 
fronting upon them, being in section 36, 40, 13, sold at $2,200 per acre. It is now held at 
$3,500, the owner having refused $3,000. Same property sold in 1855 at $50 per acre. 

In November, 1838, R. K. Swift entered the northeast quarter of section 35, 40, 13. In 
February, 1854, he sold one-th rd, or a little over 53 acres of it, for $700. In March, 1869, this 
tract was sold for $20,000. In the same month was sold an undivided one-fourth part for 
$11,000, which was equal to $300 per acre. In April, 1870, the remaining three-fourths of the 
53 acres was sold for $14,900, or at the rate of nearly $1,200 per acre. The same year the dif- 



SAMPLE TRANSACTIONS. 309 

ferent owners of the eighty acres of which this is a part united in subdividing the property 
into lots, which have since been sold at retail at an average of $"20 per foot. 

In 1861, Bishop Clarkson bought 20 acres in the same quarter section at $150 per acre. 
Recently he was offered, for a portion of the tract, $2,500 per acre, which he declined. 

The' above detail is given to show growth in values in a portion of the city which until 
recently has not been looked upon with the favor shown to other localities. 

BY A. P. DOWNS & CO. 

July 3, 1855, the canal trustees deeded 21 acres in the west half of the northwest quarter of 
section 13, 30, 13, to David S. Lee, for $357. April 20, 1871, one lot of the above was sold for 
$1,000. Lots recently sold at $1,000. 

BY H. C. MOREY. 

In July, 1806, sold the north half of the west half of block 4, section 27, 39, 14, being 100 
feet on Michigan avenue and 170 feet on Twenty-second street, for $!),000. It is now worth 
$400 per foot. 

November 14, 1866, sold the east 19 acres of the south 25 acres of the southeast quarter of 
section 4, 38, 14. at the northwest corner of State and Forty-seventh streets, for $10,000. It 
is now worth from $3,000 to $10,000 per acre. 

December 5, 1866, sold 12 acres in Lavinia's subdivision of the southeast quarter of section 
10, 38, 14, at $208 per acre. A portion of this land, fronting on the South Parks, is worth 
$10,000 per acre. 

October 25, 1S67, sold the north 21 acres of the east half of the southeast quarter of section 
8, 38, 14, at the southwest corner of Halsted and Fifty-first streets, at $,00 per acre, now worth 
$3,000 per acre. . , • 

February 5. 1868, sold 94 acres in the southwest quarter of section 15. 39, 13, in the town 
of Cicero, fronting on Twelfth street and Hyman avenue, at $150 per acre. It now sells at from 
$1,500 to $2,000 per acre. 

February 6th, 1870, sold the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 23, 38, 
13, for $6,000. It is now worth $25,000. 

BY GEO. DeLOYNES & SON. 

Four acres in Saltenstall & Russell's subdivision, between Grand and Drexel boulevards 
and Fifty-third and Forty-fourth streets, sold in September, 1872, at $3,000 per acre. 

On Wabash avenue, near Fifty -second street, 100 feet front sold in the spring of 1872 at 
$30 per front foot. The following fall it brought $:>0 per front foot. 

BY G. D. BEEBE. 

In 1869, 75 acres in the east half of the northwest quarter of section 2. 39, 13, sold for 
$52.u00. In 1872, the same property sold for $110,500, to Beebe. A portion of these lots (the 
property being subdivided, and known as Villa Ridge) were sold at auction last August at an 
average price of $1,000 per acre. The remaining lots are held at from $20 to $25 per front 
foot. 

BY A. & A. D. BELLAMY. 

Ten acrts in blocks 5 and 8, in Seipp's subdivision at Hyde Park, sold in 1870, at .$900 per 
acre. In May, 1872, the same piece brought $1,500 per acre, and in August of the same year, 
$1,700. Within the six months last past adjoining property has been sold at £2.500 p^r acre. 

One hundred feet fronting on Lake avtnue, and running through to the lake, in Lyman's 
subdivision, sold in June, 1872, for $130 per front foot and resold within a few clays thereafter 
at $142-50 per front foot. Other lots in this tract have recently sold at & 200 per front. foot. 

Forty acres in the east half of the southeast quarter of section 32, 38. 14," at South Engle- 
wood, was sold in October, 1872, for $l,0u0 per acre. Ten acres .of this were recently sold at 
$2,500 p,r acre. 

Five acres in block 6, Orvis' subdivision in section 9, 38, 14, sold in January, 1871, for $300 
per acre. It was resold last year at $1,500. 

BY PATCH & CLYBOURNE. 

Ten lots in Lill & Diversey's subdivision, fronting north and south on Dunning street 
and Lill avenue, and lying between Lincoln and Seminary avenues, was sold in October, 1872, 
at $600 each. They were formerly purchased by Mr. Lill, in 1848, of the Canal Trustees, at 
less than $10 p.r acre. Thtse lots are now selling at from $.100 to $1,000 each. 

In October, 1872, sev^n lots on Lill avenue, east of Lincoln avdiue, in the same subdivis- 
ion, sold for $1,000 each. The same lots are now held at $1,200 each. 

Also in April, 1873, 160 acres, being the southwest quarter of section 3S, 37, 13, south of 
the Chicago rivtr, sold at $100 per acre. It has since been sold for $175 per acre. 

BY D. COLE & SON. 

July 1st, 1872, s' Id seven lots in block 3, Central Park addition, at $10 per foot. 
June 5, 1872, sold 25 feet on Ma.'.ison street, east of Halsted street, for $15,000. Resold 
six months afterwards for $18,000. 



3io 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



January 6, 1873. seventy feet on West Madison, east of Green street, sold for $42,000. 

January 5, 1872. 48 feet on southeast corner of Union and Madison streets for. $18,500 cash. 

March 7. 1873, 125 feet on Randolph, west of Ada street, for $26,500. 

November 11, 1871. 24 feet on Madison, near Morgan street, for $10,000 ; now worth $16 800. 

December 12, 187?, 5 acres at the corner of California avenue and Taylor street, for 
$22,500; now worth $30,000. 

February 14, 1872. 40 fe< t on West Adams street, near Canal street, for $12,300. 

Fc bruary 10, 1872. 30 feet at the corn r of Washington and Union streets, for $15,000. 

July 13, 1871, 40 feet on West Washington, n ar Ada street, at $300 per foot; now worth 
$350 per foot. 

April 22, 1871, 50 f et on southwest corner of Halsted and Washington streets, for $21,000. 

January 15. 1872, 60 feet on West Madison street, near Halsted street, for $42,900. 

May 28, 1872. 50 feet on Fulton, n ar Wood street, for $4,750. 

November 16, 1871, 25 feet on Halsted, near Monroe street, for $7,000; now worth $500 p r 
foot. 

February 4. 1873, 75 feet on Sausramon, near Washington street, for $16,000. 

April 19, 1872, 25 feet on Madison, ni ar May street, for $10,500. 

January 6. 1872, 30 feet on Madison, near Halsted street, for $18,000; now worth $21,000. 

May 1, 1873, 197x250 fe^t at the corner of Jackson and Sangamon streets, for $30,000; now 
held at '$125,000. 

October, 1873, 75 feet on Ashland avenue, north of Jackson street, west front, at $225 per 
foot. 

In 1845, ten acres adjoining Twelfth street, and running from State street to the lake, was 
sold at $250 per acre. This property has gone through num< rons transfers; always at an ad- 
vanced value, and at the present time is worth $7(>,950 per acre. 

Mr. Matt Laflin bought, in 1845, on the west side of State street, south of Twelfth street, at 
$100 per acre. Its valuenow is $28,750 per acre. 

Mr. Laflin and Mr. Loomis purchased, in l)s49. eighty acres fronting north on Madison 
street, west on Ashland avenue, and running through to Loomis street, ami south to Harrison 
street, for $24,000. In 18H0, the average value of the whole tract was $60 per foot. It will now 
sell for a total value of over $2,000,000 without its improvements. 



BY BASH & SHAPLEY. 



In May, 1871, the east half of the southeast quarter of section 22, 38. 13, (town of Lake\ 
sold at $100. Same tract, October 1, 1871, brought $200; in April, 1873, $325; and in May, 1873, 
$400 per acre. 

In 1871, 160 acres adjoining the above on the west, wire off red at $200 per acre; sold 
ree-ntly at $400. 

In S ptember, 1872, the north half of the northwest quarter of section 23, same township, 
at $300 per acre. For the same tract $fi00 per acre has since been refused — the enhancement 
being largely due to the location of the Chicago, Danville and Vine nnes Railroad. 

In March, 1873, sold the whole of section 35, same township, to Sisson & Nt wman for $300 
p r acre. The northeast quarter re-sold within a month at, $500; the southeast quarter in 
August 1873, at $500; and the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter at $475, somewhat 
earlier. 

In August, 1872, bought the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 23, 
above mentioned, at $325; sold within a month at $375. 

In August, 1871, sold the west half of the southwest quarter of section 11, same township, 
at $-J75; re-sold October 1, 1871, at $320; and again, October 10, 1872, at $600. Now held at 
$1,25(1. 

In Augusts 1872,. sold the northeast quarti r of the northeast quarter of section 28, same 
township, at $125; re-sold in October following at $275; and again, at $300. 

In February, 1873, sold the east half of the southwest quart r of section 28, same'town- 
ship, at $175; Te-sold in March at $215. 

In March, 1873, sold the east half of the southwest quarter of section 20, same township, 
at $125; re-sold in April at $200, the purchast r being the Hon. C. B. Farwell. 

In February, 1873, sold the w< st half of the southeast quart r of s< ction 30, same town- 
ship, at $175; also the i ast half of the southwest quarter of section 30, same township, at 
$115; re-sold in April at $150. 

In March, 1873. sold the west half of the northwest quarter of section 3, 37, 13, at $150; 
re-sold in April at $225. 

Otlv r sales by this firm in the vicinity named are "too numerous to mention.") 

In 1870, 150 feet square, corner of Dearborn street and North avenue, at $210. Part have 
sold sinct at $250. 

In November, 1871, 50 feet on North Dearborn, near Burton place, Eli Bates's site\ at 
$200 per foot. 

In the winter of 1871 2, 80x150 feet on Dearborn, corner of Schiller, at $190 per foot; and 
90 feet, northeast corner same streets, at $200. 

In August, 1872, 210 feet on Dearborn street, br tween Schiller and Burton place, at $200. 

In March, 1872, 83x550 f^et, on State, corner of Schiller, running through to Lake Shore 
drive, for .* 48,000. 

In March, 1872,250 feet on State street, between Schiller and Gnethe, at $150 per front foot. 

In December, 1870, 200 feet on North Clark street, bUween Schiller and North avenue, at 
£150 per front foot. 









Part V. 



PARKS OF CHICAGO 



THE SOUTH PARK SYSTEM. 



History of the Project — Legislation — Opposition — How it was Overcome — Prices 
Paid for Lands Taken — Provisions of the South Park Act — History of Im- 
provements, etc. 



THE park system of Chicago has as yet less interest in an artistic or aesthetic 
point of view than in a business point of view. In this respect Parks differ 
diametrically from People ; that is, the Park developes the poetical element only 
as it becomes old, while its youth is all hard, practical, speculative. It is only during 
the present season (summer of 1873) that the South Parks, about which we are now 
writing, and which are placed first because they are first in the thoughts of Chicago 
landowners, reached such a stage as to be in anywise attractive places of resort ; 
and even now there is scarcely anything finished or made artificially attractive, ex- 
cept the drives which lead to the hither end of the park nearest the city. The 
managers of the west parks have not even been able, under the strict limitations of 
power imposed upon them, to construct good di'iveways to the pleasure-grounds 
under their care. 

Notwithstanding this, the south and west paiks have been for five years the prin- 
cipal stimulus to land speculation and investment and the key to the situation of 
the Chicago real estate market. In view of this fact, and for the guidance of those 
who wish to study the situation referred to, we propose to embody here the first 
comprehensive history of the Chicago Parks, great and small, outside and inside, 
that has ever been published. 

How the Parks had their Origin. — The first attempt to found the South Parks 
was made in 1866, by the following prominent gentlemen : George M. Kimbark, 
Paul Cornell, Chauncey T. Bowen, George R. Clark, Obadiah Jackson, Jonathan 
Y. Scammon and J. Irving Pearce. Two park bills were prepared — one taking in 
the ground to be chosen as an addition to the city, and the other to have the grounds 
selected both inside and outside of the limits, and contemplating the appointment 
of a separate commission upon them. The last was the plan adopted by the pro- 
jectors, for the reason that it was found to be impossible to get the whole city to 
act favorably on the first, owing to a feeling of jealousy which has always existed to 
a deplorable extent between the three sections of the city. 

While the bills were being framed, letters were written to all the cities in the 
United States which have park improvements, asking for copies of the laws and 
regulations governing them, and from these the excellencies were culled and em- 
bodied in the bills. The first-mentioned bill provided for the taxing of the whole 
city, instead of the portion only which was benefited by it. The bill which was 
adopted provided that all the revenue for the park should be raised on the South 



3T4 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Side, and the whole property is assessed in the ratio of its nearness to the park 
improvements. The system works well. Lincoln Park was acted upon by the 
whole city, because it was universally conceded that it was just the locality for a 
park, and the grrund all lay within the city limits. The only opposition met with 
in that project came from the fact that the whole city was taxed alike, and no espe- 
cial benefits assessed on the contiguous tracts. For instance, the ninety-acre tract 
fronting upon the park, and owned by Dr. Foster, was not more heavily tolled than 
property at Cottage Grove, in proportion to the value. So the act was so amended 
as to assess all the revenue upon the North Side and Lake View alone. 

Returning to the direct history of the South Parks, we note that the first south 
park bill was laid before the Legislature in the winter of 1867. It provided for the 
appointment of five commissioners, to be chosen by the Governoi'. The amount of 
bonds to be issued was limited to $1,000,000, and the amount of tax to be levied in 
any year was not to exceed $150,000. The location of the ground was to be left to 
these commissioners, and it was generally expected that the one hundred and twenty- 
acre tract known as Egandale, lying between Forty-seventh and Fifty-fifth streets, 
and east of Cottage Grove avenue, would be selected, because of its having already 
been beautifully improved by Dr. Egan, its former owner. It was covered with 
trees, and being high ground, overlooking Lake Michigan, the people thought it 
the best locality. The commissioners desired to choose this tract, but were met 
with opposition from the owners, the heirs of the Drexel estate. Had these people 
foreseen the benefits which have accrued to the chosen lands, they would have 
gladly disposed of this portion of the three hundred-acre tract which they owned 
under the Egan mortgage and would have received very much more for the whole 
than they did realize on its sale to different parties in that and the following year. 

The opposition from the Drexels ceased when the draft of the bill was so 
amended as to stipulate the location of the parks west of Cottage Grove avenue, 
thus leaving out the Egandale property. The park bill of 1867 was signed and 
submitted to the people at the spring town election, on the same day as the city 
election. The two parties not knowing the temper of the majority in reference to 
the park improvements, were neither of them willing to make that an issue, and, 
therefore, put upon the tickets both " For Park" and " Against Park." By the 
conditions of the act, the park vote was made separate and independent, and ap- 
pointed for the same day as the town elections of Hyde Park, South Chicago and 
the town of Lake, The cry of " speculation " and "corruption" was raised by the 
reactionists, against all who favored the parks, and as a result of this, the act was 
defeated by 169 majority. 

The Second Attempt. — The gentlemen who had secured the passage of the bill 
did not give up, but patiently waited until the next session of the Legislature, and 
then introduced another bill. 

In this last the location was definitely determined, the boundaries being those 
decided upon by a committee of citizens chosen in the fall for that purpose. They 
were J. Y. Scammon, George C. Walker, George R. Clarke, J. Irving Pearce, Joseph 
M. Dake, II. H. Honore, Chauncey T. Bowen, A. Emigh, P. R. Weslfall, Schuyler 
S. Benjamin, John Fitch, and John D. Jennings. These gentlemen drew up a bill 
and intrusted Mr. Bowen with its fate at Springfield. Mr. Bowen represented its 
claims for approval, and the result was its passage in the House by a vote of fifty- 






PARKS OF CHICAGO. 315 

eight to two, and the Senate's concurrence by a vote of twenty-three to one. At 
that time John C. Dore was Senator from this city, and he insisted that, as a condi- 
tion to the act, it should be ratified by the people of the three townships of South 
Chicago, Hyde Park and Lake, at a special election to be called for that purpose. 
This was a precaution not only just on the face of it, but which virtually saved the 
act from being upset by the Supreme Court, when contested in that tribunal on 
constitutional grounds. 

As soon as the act was passed, the canvass was commenced, and it developed 
one of the most exciting contests ever witnessed in Chicago. It was finally ratified 
by the following vote : / 

For the parks and boulevards, - 9,662 

Against " " " - 6,935 



Majority, - - - - - - 3,737 

— this being a very full vote of the three townships interested. Governor John M. 
Palmer immediately appointed the following gentlemen to constitute the first Board 
of Commissioners : John M. Wilson, Leverett B. Sidway, Paul Cornell, George W. 
Gage and Chauncey T. Bowen. The meeting of the Board, soon after, resulted in 
the choice of the following gentlemen as officers: John M. Wilson, President; 
Paul Cornell, Secretary ; George B. Smith, Treasurer ; and George W. Waite, 
Chief Engineer. 

Litigation. — The commissioners at once proceeded to negotiate their bonds, and 
had sold of them $ioo,coo, and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, 
when an action was commenced in the Circuit Court to test the constitutionality of 
the bill, and by this the hands of the Commissioners were tied until the October 
following, thus losing the remainder of the year 1869. Meantime the lands rapidly 
increased in value, and the Commissioners were obliged, on again commencing ne- 
gotiations, to pay the advance. The court decided against the plaintiffs, who, by 
their action, did not increase the regard in which they were held by the public, and 
who had the satisfaction of paying for their pains. 

Appraisal of Lands, — The Commissioners consulted five prominent real estate 
firms for values, and the highest estimate placed on the eleven hundred acres and 
the boulevards footed a total of $1,700,000. The maximum figures placed on any 
land in the north, or hither park, was $i,88o per acre, and on land in the south, or 
farther park, $700 per acre. The value of the 132 feet strip taken from Kankakee 
avenue for Grand Boulevard was averaged at $30 per foot ; $20 per foot at Fifty- 
first street, and $40 per foot at Thirty-fifth street. This was in the winter of 1869- 
70. The present value is from $200 to $225 per foot. 

Computing the Benefits. — The Circuit Court appointe 1, as commissioners to as- 
certain the amount of benefits to accrue to lands to be affected by the park improve- 
ments, the following gentlemen : Benjamin F. Hadduck (since deceased), George 
W. Waite, and W. L. Greenleaf. The appointment of Mr. Hadduck was especially 
appropriate. He was known to be very conservative, an old resident, thoroughly 
familiar with property history and values in Cook County, and one whose opinion 
would be as satisfactory to the opposition as to the friends of the act. These Com- 
missioners, after working all the summer over the matter, rendered a statement 









3 l6 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

showing the benefits to be at least fifteen millions of dollars, and the assessment to 
secure all this increase was placed at $1,800,000. This was before any improve- 
ments were made ; and as if to show the Chicago people how excessively conserva- 
tive they are in estimating land values, the property in question has proceeded to 
increase in value by at least qtiadmple the figure at which the special appraisers 
placed it. 

Raising the Wind. — The act, as passed, provided for the issue of bonds to the 
amount of $2,000,000, which should form a lien ; first, upon the lands appropriated, 
second, on all the real property in the towns of Hyde Park, Lake, and South 
Chicago. 

It was necessary to negotiate the bonds before any land could be purchased. 
These bonds were of a character different from those issued for any other parks in 
the country, being issued in the name and by authority of the South Park Com- 
missioners. Bonds for the building of parks elsewhere have invariably been issued 
by the city government and have required the mayor's endorsement. These bonds 
were issued by the Commissioners as a body corporate, entirely independent and 
separate from everything and every body else. Gen. George W. Smith, formerly 
State Treasurer, and Chauncey T. Bowen proceeded, in November, 1869, to Phila- 
delphia, Providence, Boston and other cities to negotiate the bonds. They finally 
settled on New York City, and made arrangements with the American Exchange 
National Bank to advertise them for sale. Gen. Smith returned home, and Mr. 
Bowen remained until the following February, to advocate their claims to favor. 
Money was sharp at 12 per cent., and yet in thirty days from the first sale they were 
all disposed of at figures which averaged 92 cents on the dollar, which at the time 
was considered a very successful negotiation, especially as the bonds were to run 
ten years at 7 per cent, interest. 

This closes the history of the struggle on the South Parks question. Ever since 
that time the programme of improvements, the purchases made, and all other work- 
ings of the commission have gone steadily forward, meeting with scarcely any oppo- 
sition, except from a few of the parties owning lands within the limits of the Park. 
The progress and improvements of the parks have given satisfaction to all parties, 
and the work will not stop until there is secured to the South Side a pleasure 
ground which will awaken the gratitude of all future generations, as it has the enthus- 
iastic approval of the people of this one. 

Acquiring the Lands. — The next thing to be done after locating the parks, was 
to acquire the lands. Of course, immediately after the success of the bill was 
assured, many who had lands within the boundaries selected for the parks and 
boulevards demanded an enormous advance on former prices for their interests, and 
they were paid, in most instances, simply because that great American tribunal, a 
petit jury, so decided whenever the cases were brought before it. The following is 
a complete list of these lands, and a statement of the manner in which they were 
obtained. It may be well to say, first, that nearly the whole of the transfers were 
made in the years 1869 and 1870, and the prices paid are far less than the values 
placed upon the same lands now. Scores of people were made suddenly wealthy 
by disposing of lands at such increase over what they were worth before. Some of 
these parties had owned their land for a number of years ; had paid tax after tax 
upon them, and offered them upon the market frequently without securing pur- 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 317 

chasers, even at a moderate figure, until the Park Commissioners pitched upon their 
property as the site of the improvement and offered them the prices named below. 
And even then, parties in a few instances have held on to their acres for heavier 
prices, believing that they could force the commissioners to pay any price they asked. 
The courts, for all but two or three of these greedy people, have settled the matter 
by appraisal, and in a short time, the last acre of the whole eleven hundred will have 
been acquired and paid for. The following is the history of the acquirement of 
the tracts : 

For the North Park. — The north fifteen acres, extending across the whole width 
of the upper park, was purchased of Mr. Gibson for $41,079.16. The fifteen acres 
south of and adjoining this was -purchased of Mr. Hoffman, for $37,500. The west 
twelve acres of the fifteen acres south of and adjoining the last named tract was 
bought of James Marks for $42,000. In this case Mr. Marks appealed from the 
award of the Commissioners, and pending the appeal a compromise was effected 
for the above named sum. The remaining three acres of this fifteen-acre tract was 
purchased of William Turner, under a similar compromise. The east one-half of 
the fifteen acres next south and adjoining was purchased of John D. Jennings, 
for $18,975. 

The next twenty-six acres adjoining just south of this belongs to Mrs. Cook, 
who has thus far kept the title through a dry and tedious process of litigation. s'The 
award of the Commissioners, $92,000, was made, like the awards on other property, 
in 1870. Mrs. Cook appealed to the Circuit Court. The result of the first trial was 
a verdict awarding her about $114,000. She appealed to the Supreme Court. The 
decision was adverse to the verdict, and the case was sent back to the court below 
for a new trial, with the instruction that juries might award owners of condemned 
lands the benefit of all increase in values since condemnation proceedings were com- 
menced, except such increase as should come from the park itself. This last trial 
resulted in a verdict in Mrs. Cook's favor for $171,569.66. From this the Com- 
missioners appealed to the Supreme Court, but have since settled with Mrs. C. on 
the basis of the last verdict. The east half of the tract lying between Fifty-third 
and Fifty-fourth streets, and next south of the Cook tract, and the west half of the 
east ten acres of the tract between Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth streets — twenty-two 
and a half acres in all — was purchased of Mr. Smith for $45,000. 

The north 19.83 acres of the west half of the land lying between Fifty-third and 
Fifty-fourth streets was the property of Mrs. Bailey, and was appraised by the Com- 
missioners appointed by the court at $73,000. She appealed from this, and a com- 
promise was effected at $90,000. She had placed the same land on the market one 
year before, asking only $14,000 for the whole tract, and found no purchaser. A 
narrow strip south of this was purchased of Fred. T. Ranney. 

The above descriptions include all the land north of Fifty-fourth street. A 
small improved tract on the corner of Cottage Grove avenue and Fifty-fifth street 
was bought of Bruno Gansel, for $10,000 ; and a small tract, which with the fore- 
going formed a five-acre block, was purchased of Theo. Schintz for $5,565. The 
west ten acres of the east twenty acres between Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth streets 
was purchased of John G. Shortall for $16,000. The west ten of the east thirty 
acres of the same tract was purchased of the heirs of Dr. Egan for $15,000. The 
west ten acres of the tract lying between Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth streets was 



318 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

bought of Dr. Boone for $40,000. The east ten acres of the tract between Fifty- 
fifth and Fifty-sixth streets was acquired by condemnation and appraisal of the 
courts' Commissioners at $20,000, of Mr. Janson and the heirs of John A. Bross. 
The east ten acres of the tract between Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh streets was 
acquired in like manner, for $16,686.72, of the owners, C. B. Farwell, et al. The 
west twenty of the east forty acres between Fifty-fifth and Fifty-seventh streets 
was purchased of George C. Walker for $37,000. The west forty acres of this 
tract, owned by Martin Andrews, et al., was acquired by appraisal of the court's 
commissioners, for the sum of $59,287.51. The forty acres south of and adjoining 
the above was owned by Charles Busby, of whom it was acquired by appraisal at 
$48,000. -The west ten acres of the east twenty acres between Fifty - seventh and 
Fifty -eighth streets, was acquired in like manner, of Mr. Bartow, the owner, he 
receiving $18,113.33 for it. The east ten acres of the last mentioned twenty acres 
was purchased by the Park Commissioners, of Mr. Hamill, for $16,000. The east 
ten acres of the forty acres between Fifty-eight and Fifty-ninth streets was pur- 
chased in like manner, of Mr. Sheldon, for $16,000. The west ten acres of the east 
twenty acres of the same tract was bought of Mr. Jacobs for $15,000. The east ten 
acres of the forty acres lying between Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth streets was acquired 
by appraisal of the court's commissioners, of Wm. McKindley, for $16,500, The 
west ten acres of the east twenty acres between the same streets was purchased of 
the several owners for a total of about $16,000. The west twenty acres of this 
tract was acquired by appraisal, of Dr. Starr, for $24,000. 

For the Midway Plaisance. — This is a strip 600 feet wide connecting the upper 
and lower South Park. The west forty acres of it was purchased of Clark & Martin, 
trustees, for $80,000 in Park bonds. The twenty acres east of and adjoining this 
was acquired by appraisal of the Jackson heirs, and of Mr. Handy for $32,400. The 
twenty acres east of this and comprising the remainder of the plaisance was bought, 
by the Park Commissioners, of Messrs. Emigh & Kilmer, for $76,000. 

The lands before mentioned were purchased in 1870. This tract was bought in 
1873, which accounts for the increase of one hundred and thirty-Jive per cent. 

For t hi Farther Park. — The north fifty acres ol this park (commonly called the 
" Lower Park," from the habit of the people of North America of regarding every- 
thing to the southward as down) was acquired by appraisal of the court's commis- 
sioners, of Charles Anderson and others, for $96,500. Dickinson's subdivision of 
ten acres, lying on the lake shore, south of the above north fifty acres, has been 
appraised, and an appeal has heen taken by all the owners excepting the owners of 
five lots who accepted the award of the commissioners. The appeal is yet pending. 
The north ten acres of the twenty-acre tract west, and adjoining on the south the 
north fifty acres above mentioned, was purchased of Bliss & Sharp for $12,000. 
The south ten acres of the twenty acres west, and adjoining Dickenson's subdivision, 
was bought of Wm. P. Grey for $20,000. This last was improved property. The 
tract lying south of the above subdivision, on the lake shore, and comprising about 
thirteen acres, was acquired by appraisal for $21,459, °f Morton & Clement, the 
owners. A tract west, and adjoining the Morton & Clement property, and contain- 
ing five acres, was acquired by appraisal, of the heirs of John R. Stark weaker, for 
$6,300. Ten acres adjoining the Starkweather tract on the west was bought of the 
owner, J. D. Piatt, for $20,000. It had a good class of improvements on it. The 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 319 

fractional south half of section 13, excepting about five acres on Hyde Park avenue, 
is still in litigation. The Park Commissioners have a contract from one of the par- 
ties claiming the title to the whole, and the contest is between him and other claim- 
ants. Ten acres lying on the west side of the park, and immediately south of the 
tract last mentioned, was purchased of C. C. Abbott, for $20,000. The fifteen acres 
adjoining this, south, and extending to Sixty-seventh street, the south limit of the 
park, was purchased of Mrs. S. D. Kimbark, for $20,000. The north five acres of 
the fifteen acres lying immediately east of the above tract was bought of Mrs. S. D. 
Kimbark for $8,750. The remaining ten acres of this tract was bought of Levi 
Blackwell, for $15,000. One hundred acres lying east of the above was purchased 
of Judge Dunlevy, for $125,000^ The north fifteen acres of the twenty acres lying 
east of this was purchased of George M. Hambright for $10,000. Five acres south 
of and adjacent to the above, which belonged to Mrs. Kimbark, was purchased for 
$5,000. The tract of about eighty acres adjoining these two last mentioned tracts is 
subject to condemnation proceedings now pending. Ten acres known as the Hoyt 
subdivision, excepting two lots, and lying east of the above last mentioned tract on 
the lake shore, has been purchased of the owners. The thirty acres known as the 
Wm. B. Astor subdivision, lying south of the Hoyt subdivision, and east of the last 
mentioned eighty acres, was purchased of H. O. Stone, for $24,000, excepting five 
or six lots not yet acquired. The above is a complete schedule of lands lying with- 
in the boundaries of the South Parks. 

Growth of Values. — In addition to the example of increase given by the Bailey 
tract, we give a few other tracts as indicative of the whole, and to show the remark- 
able benefits which accrued to individual owners by the locating of the parka and 
the consequent purchase by the Park Commissioners. 

Charles VV. Cook, in 1835, paid $200 for the whole southeast quarter of sectioii 
10, in which the iwenty-six acres mentioned in the list is located. In the same yea ; 
he sold one-half of this to George W. Merrill for $100. In 1868 Mrs. Cook pur- 
chased seven and a half acres of the tract of Thomas Foster and others, for $17,500* 

The Marks and Turner tract of fifteen acres was patented to C. W. Cook, ia 
1839. It was conveyed, in 1865, by the then owners, John R. Case and others, t, 
H. S. Monroe and others, for $4,875. Again, by Mr. Monroe and others, in 1866, 
to H. O. Stone, for $7,500, and by him sold to James Marks, in 1867, for $10,500 
The Park Commissioners bought it, in 1870, of Mr. Marks and Mr. Turner, fo 
$52,500. Increase in three years, $42,000 — just 500 per cent. 

From the abstract we learn the following concerning the north fifty acres of th 
lower park : One hundred and thirty-three acres, including this, was entered, i 
1835, by J. Smith, for $187.08. The fifty-acre tract was conveyed, in 1837, to Noi 
man Kew, for $1,000. Re-conveyed by Mary L. Watson, in 1854, to John R. Po - 
lard, et at, for $4,250. In 1857 it was sold by Henry H. Pennimati to Samuel Pen 
niman, for $15,000. For ten acres of the fifty acres Mr. Piatt paid, in 1868, $10,00.. 
This last figure would place the value of the fiLy acres, in 1868, at $56,000. Th 
Park Commissioners paid, two years later, $96,500. Increase in two years, over 9 
per cent. These are not exceptional cases. The increase on the other portions c 
the parks would show the above ratio to be the rule. 

Description of the Park Improvements. — The commencement of the improve- 
ment of the parks proper dates from the early part of last summer. The first woi* 



320 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

was begun at the north end of the west park, and about fifty acres have already 
taken the form and appearance laid down in the plans of Mr. Cleveland, the 
architect. 

Bayard avenue, which winds in a serpentine course around the south open green 
from Grand to Drexel boulevard, has been graded and laid with Joliet gravel, cob- 
ble-stone, curbed, etc. During the winter and spring of 1873, the surface of the 
grass plats in the north fifty acres was graded and varied, seeded down, and trees 
planted, ranging from four to eight inches in diameter of trunk. Bayard avenue is 
a fine driveway — forty feet in width. It encircles about one hundred acres of grass 
plat. On this area no trees or shrubbery will be allowed, the object being to give 
an unobstructed view always across the park. Around this green are planting spaces 
of many different picturesque shapes. On these will be planted forest trees, but no 
shrubbery. 

Southwest of the open green, and bordering upon it, is to be erected the grand 
pavilion, for dancing, billiards, and refreshments. In front of this will be a vine- 
covered arbor, about 100x200 feet, and around the whole a large space will be 
reserved for a concourse for visitors and carriages. Something like 500 feet to the 
south of this, and on the western edge of the park, are already erected stables and 
sheds for hitching and feeding horses. The size of these buildings affords ample 
accommodation. 

The location of the pavilion is on the extension of Pavilion boulevard. The 
plan of this is as follows: It will be 200 feet wide, with a planting space in the 
center go feet wide ; driveways on each side, 40 feet wide, nicely graded, curbed and 
gravelled, and at the outer edge of each driveway, a fifteen-feet sidewalk is provided 
for. The improvement in this manner will end at State street. From State street 
to Reuben street, a distance of two miles directly west, it will be a 70 feet driveway, 
with planting spaces at the sides. This will leave a mile of interval from Reuben 
street west to Western avenue, which will be beautified after the same manner as the 
one-half mile of space between State street and the park. On entering the park, 
this street will take a serpentine direction to the south-east corner of the park, 
where it will enter the midway plaisance. 

The southern part of the west park will be used for the deer paddock, exhibi- 
tion grounds, the farmstead, the administration buildings, and the mere, with exten- 
sive plats covered with trees and shrubbery. The mere will consist of a number 
of artificial lakes connected by straits with each other, and emptying into the mid- 
way basins. The area of the above tract is about 200 acres, and it will be called 
the upper plaisance. 

The midway plaisance, embracing all the area of the blocks between Fifty-ninth 
and Sixtieth streets. This will be devoted to beautiful driveways, planting places, 
and the midway basins. These latter will form a continuous sheet of water through 
to the great lagoon of the lower or east park. Each of these basins will be about 
1,300 feet long and 100 feet wide, connected by straits 40 feet wide at the intersec- 
tions with streets, where they will be covered by bridges of handsome design. 

The " lower" park, into which the midway plaisance leads, contains an area of 
about 500 acres. It is bounded on the west by Hyde Park avenue, a beautiful street 
paved with Nicholson pavement ; on the north by Fifty-ninth street, on the south 
by Sixty-seventh street, and on the east by the lake. The whole area of the lower 






PARKS OF CHICAGO. 321 

park will be diversified with large and multi-form lakes, winding driveways and 
walks, and covered with forest trees and shrubbery. A natural forest now covers 
the southwest part of it, and innumerable trees will be added, by the transplanting 
of large trees of symmetrical shape and stately height. A sufficient number of 
these will be planted to make the larger portion of the park a beautiful 
woodland. A little south of the center and on the west side of this park 
are to be erected the administration buildings. A short distance east of these will 
be the park haven shelter. South of the great lagoon is to be the pavilion con- 
course of this park, constructed in a similar manner as the ones in the " upper " 
park. On the lake shore, and at about the geographical center north and south, 
will be the Belvidere building and promenade, and a little north of this the Belvi- 
dere stand. These buildings will be carried up far enough to give an imposing 
view of the parks and boulevards, the lake and the shipping, etc. 

It is intended to make the park haven large enough and deep enough to admit 
steamers and pleasure boats to dock. The pier which is to protect the park haven 
from the action of the lake will extend eastward several hundred feet. This will 
enable visitors to reach the parks by water as well as by rail and carriages. Along 
the lake shore, and extending the whole length of the park, will be a macadamized 
lake shore drive, of ample width and substantial and enduring workmanship. It 
will constitute one of the most enjoyable roadways in the country, on account of 
the beautiful land and water scenery which it will skirt. 

This is a sketch of the plan of the South park improvements, as drawn by 
Messrs. Olmstead & Vaux, of New York. It should be remarked, however, that 
these gentlemen have been accustomed to design public grounds for a much larger 
and wealthier city than the South Division of Chicago, and where money, under 
the influence of Tammany appliances was much freer than here ; hence some of 
the ideas of the designers, excellent though they are, will have to be sacrificed. 
The south open green, for instance, will be left as a flat lawn, instead of being 
concaved out according to the original plan — an operation that would absorb much 
more than a year's net revenues ; and the system of lakes and lagoons in the hither 
park and the midway plaisance will also be postponed indefinitely, the Commis- 
sioners being of the opinion that the larger proportion of the funds at their dis- 
posal had better be invested in sewers and roadways, and in a series of the most 
essential embellishments and park attractions where the most can be had for the 
least money. 

Approaches. — The South Parks are approached on the north by Drexel and 
Grand boulevards. The former enters at the northeast corner. The entrance is 
450 feet wide, and extends across an entire block, east and west. The entrance on 
the northwest corner from Grand boulevard is 345 feet wide. Both entrances are 
beautifully planned with grass plats, planting places, drives and fountains. 

Grand Boulevard. — This beautiful thoroughfare extends from Thirty-fifth street 
south to Fifty-first street boulevard, and lies two blocks east of Prairie avenue. It 
runs parallel with Drexel boulevard, being three blocks west of it. The first im- 
provement on the Grand boulevard commenced at the north boundary, Thirty-fifth 
street, and was completed to Forty-fifth street in that year, 1870. Kankakee 
avenue was widened by the addition of 132 feet taken from the east front, in 
accordance with the act. At Grand boulevard it is 200 feet wide, including a pleas- 
21 



322 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

ure drive through the center, 60 feet wide, and traffic roadways on each side. The 
pleasure drive can only be used for recreation. The improvement of the roadways 
is in three materials, viz. : asphalt, stone screenings and Joliet gravel. The screen- 
ings are the fine chippings from the manufacture of marble blocks. As this is the 
first of the boulevards improved, experiments have been made in different materials. 
The manner of building the same is as follows : First, grading, then cobble stone, 
then a top dressing of screenings or Joliet gravel. The portion covered by the last 
last named material has a foundation of the coarse stones, selected from the gravel, 
The gutters are covered either by asphalt, cobble-stone, or the slag from blast fur- 
naces. The boulevard is now completed as far south as Fifty-first street, where it 
enters the park, and bordered on each side by large elm trees, and is the resort of 
hundreds each day. Two additional rows of trees will ultimately be added. The 
expectations of the Commissioners have been much more than realized in the eager- 
ness with which the carriage-riding public seeks the boulevards for recreation. 
This is especially true of Grand boulevard, which is often crowded for a space of' 
two miles with carriages averaging three abreast. 

The principal owners of property along Grand boulevard are as follows : 

Between Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth streets : On the west side, Mr. Moffitt, the 
entire front. On the east side, H. G. Loomis, Ff. H. Honore. 

Between Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth streets, Bryan Philpot, the entire east 
front. 

Between Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth : On the west side, G. A. Springer, 600 
feet. On the east side, H. Ff. Honore, 600 feet. 

Between Thirty-ninth and Fortieth : On the west side, H. H. Honore, 600 feet. 
On the east side, J. E. Warren, 500 feet ; Mr. Pflaum, 100 feet. 

Between Fortieth and Forty-first: On the west side, H. H. Honore, 600 feet. 
On the east side, Washington Smith, J. H. Hill, McKay Brothers, of Janesville, 
Wis. 

Between Forty-first and Forty-second : On the west side, Jas. E. Tyler, 600 feet. 
On the east side, Geo. S. Bo wen, 600 feet. 

Between Forty-third and Forty-fourth : On the west side, Wilbur F. Storey, 
editor of the " Times," 300 feet, running through to Vincennes avenue. 

Between Forty-fifth and Forty-seventh : On the west side, Alfred Cowles, of 
the "Tribune," 300 feet ; Gen. John A. Logan, 600 feet. On the east side, Potter 
Palmer and H. H. Honore, each 600 feet. 

Between Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth : On the east side, Jas. M. Walker, 
President C. B. & Q. Railroad, 200 feet ; W. F. Storey, 300 feet. 

Between Forty-eighth and Fiftieth, Elliot Anthony holds the east front (west 
side of the boulevard), and H. O. Stone the west front ; and between Fiftieth and 
Fifty-first, where the boulevard enters the park, the corresponding fronts are held 
by H. H. Honore and Obadiah Jackson. 

Drexel Boulevard. — Drexel boulevard (formerly Grove Parkway) is the result of 
the action of a meeting of the property owners along its borders from the railroad 
track at Forty-first street to the South Park, held about the time the initiation was 
taken on the park improvement, to take into consideration the proposition of the 
South Park Commissioners to purchase the right of way for a thoroughfare from 
Kgan avenue, the present city limits, to the entrance of South Park at Fifty-first 



il 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 323 

street boulevard. The purchase was made, the owners receiving sums made up of 
prices which averaged $4,000 per acre. It is 200 feet wide from beginning to end, 
the breadth being divided as follows: 15 feet of sidewalk and 40 feet of road- 
way at the sides of the planting place in the center, which is go feet wide. One 
hundred feet was taken on each side. The figure named is about one-third the rate 
paid for the 132 feet taken for Grand boulevard from the west side of Kankakee 
avenue. 

The Avenue ITmperatrice, Paris, is the model for Drexel boulevard. The only 
difference in the plans of the^two avenues being in width, the former being 300 feet 
wide and having two planting places through its center. In the building and orna- 
mentation of the two they are, with this one exception, exactly similar, so that a 
description of the one is a description r of the other The avenue l'lmperatrice is 
considered the finest street in the world. Drexel boulevard is devoted to the ex- 
clusive uses of pleasure, all traffic over it being forbidden. 

The ornamentation of each block is dissimilar, and the improvement is now 
sufficiently advanced to show its character. Forest, flower gardens, shrubbery, etc., 
alternate, and the walks are shaped in divers winding L courses. The material of 
the walks is hard blue clay, the drives of gravel on a compact graded surface, the 
sidewalks of asphalt and stone, and the gutters are formed by conca\e slabs of slag, 
an imperishable material. The swell of the planting surface is considerably above 
the driving grade, giving a prominent and beautiful appearance. Trellis work, 
rustic seats and bowers, fountains, etc., will be features interspersed through the 
whole length. At the south end and on the beautiful Fifty-first street boulevard, 
which at the park entrance is 400 feet in width, will be placed a mammoth fountain, 
70 feet in diameter, and of costly and beautiful design. An effort will be made at 
the next session of the Legislature to secure the removal of Douglas Monument to 
this space, at the head of, and overlooking, the park. The Park Commissioners 
volunteer to complete the monument by subscription, if it is removed as proposed. 
On each side of the boulevard, throughout its entire length, the property holders 
have placed, four feet inside of the fence, lines of stately elms from twelve to four- 
teen inches in diameter, and all living and in leaf, A uniform building line of 40 
feet is established through the entire length of the boulevard, giving a clear open 
space of 280 feet wide. 

Why some things are thus. — The estimates of five competent real estate experts 
were taken relative to the value of the lands to be taken for these parks before pro- 
ceeding to find their location. These estimates varied from $1,300,000 to $1,800,- 
000 — that is from $1,100 to $1,500 per acre ; but the price was brought in some 
cases as high as $6,000 per acre for land in the city-ward park, and some parties 
who are not yet settled with are even demanding $6,000 per acre for a large tract 
in the farther park, much of it marshy and undrainable, and only usable as a lake ! 

Added to these unexpected draughts upon their revenues, and the $70,000 per 
year ( commencing 1873 ) to be devoted to the taking up of the bonds, and the $140 
000 a year interest that must be met, it will be seen that the Commissioners must 
needs manage pretty economically and adopt a less lavish system of improvements 
than was originally contemplated, in order to get around each year inside their reve- 
nues, the full amount of which has never yet been realized, (though it must be 
sometime ). The account stands about thus : 



3 2 4 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Total revenue $300,000 

Out of which must be paid 

Interest on Bonds $140,000 

Liquidating Bonds, — 70,000 

Salaries 12,000 

Leaving for improvements per year 78,000 

Total $300,000 

The improvements already made have been noted above. Those of the present 
and ensuing season (before 1st June, 1874), will conclude the completion of Bayard 
Circle and the lawn of one hundred acres within it ; the completion of a broad 
gravel drive along the midway plaisance and clear around the Lake Shore Park, and 
the improvement of one hundred acres at the north end of the latter tract — a good 
deal to do with $78,000. 



THE WEST PARK SYSTEM. 



The Plan at the Outset — How and Why It Was Modified — The First Commis- 
sioners — Cost of the Lands — Description of the Parks — The Fire Monument 
of Iron Safes, Masonry Relics, etc. 



IN 1869 a discussion arose in the Common Council as to the practicability of 
municipal action in this direction, and a committee was chosen to draw up a 
park bill. The committee of the Council thus chosen consulted Hon. S. S. Hayes, 
and requested him to draft a bill providing for a system of parks and boulevards 
for the whole city, which he did. The committee heartily approved of the bill as 
drafted by Mr. Hayes, and it was endorsed by the Common Council at its next 
meeting, and recommended for passage by the Legislature. The following is a brief 
synopsis of the bill : 

It comprehended a division of the city into four parts, to be known as the Park 
Districts, as follows : That part of the city east of the North Branch of the river, 
to be known as Park District No. 1 ; that part west of the North Branch, to be 
known as District No. 2 ; that part west of the South Branch and west of the canal, 
to be known as No. 3 ; and that part east of the South Branch and east of the 
canal, to be known as No. 4. The mayor was to appoint three freeholders, owners 
of real estate within the city, to act as commissioners, one for each division of the 
city, who should be qualified as electors of municipal officers, and should hold office 
four years. Each one was to swear that while holding office they would not receive 
profit or gain from the sale of any lands purchased or condemned, or from any 
contract for improving, or other source connected with the park work. The bill 
designated the extreme boundaries within which the parks could be located, but left 
the affixing of the actual boundaries of the parks and boulevards to the discretion 
of the Commissioners. A provision was made in this bill for the appropriation by 
the Council of sums, from time to time, to defray the expenses of surveying, etc. 

The Act Passed. — On motion of Alderman Dixon, a committee of three of the 
Council was appointed to go to Springfield, and urge its passage. This committee 
were Aldermen Wicker, Russell and Beebe. To this force were added Hon. S. S. 
Hayes, J. C. Haines, D. Cole, and others. When these gentlemen arrived 
at the Capitol they found that South and North Side parties had arranged for the 
passage of bills for parks in their portions of the city, separately, and therefore they 
held a meeting and modified their bill so as to include the West Side parks only. 

This bill was readily passed with but little alteration, and submitted to the people 
the same year. The vote was taken March 23, 1869, in the town of West Chicago, 



326 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

and that part of the towns of Jefferson and Cicero which were entitled, under the 
act, to vote, and resulted as follows : For the parks and boulevards, 4,422 ; against 
the parks and boulevards, 3,903. Majority for the act, 519. 

Organization. — The act was passed in February, 1869, and the governor ap- 
pointed the first Board of Commissioners the following April. An organization of the 
Board was effected May 5, 1869, and since that time they have been actively engaged 
in carrying out the designs and purposes of the law. The commissioners appointed 
were C. C. P. Holden, Henry Greenebaum, George W. Stanford, E. F. Runyan, Isaac 
R. Hitt, Clark Lipe, and David Cole. Hon. S. S. Hayes was urged to accept an ap- 
pointment, but declined. On the organization of the Board, George W. Stanford was 
chosen president ; Henry Greenebaum, treasurer ; E. F. Runyan, auditor ; Charles 
S. Loding, secretary ; and W. L. B. Jenny, architect and chief engineer. 

By a resolution adopted by the Board, June 25, 1869, the labor of selecting the 
lands was given into the hands of a committee of three, consisting of Messers. 
Greenebaum, Hitt and Runyan, who made an effort to locate the parks where they 
would be accessible from public means of travel, and, at the same time, not so far 
from business and residence centers as to make them inaccessible to pedestrians and 
carriages. 

The act designated that a boulevard should be laid out to extend from a point 
north of Fullerton avenue, running thence west one mile or more west of Western 
avenue, and thence southerly, with such curves and deviations as the Board should 
deem expedient, to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad line, and that on 
the line of said boulevard three parks should be established. The north park was 
ordered to be made not less than 200 acres in area, and the cost not to exceed 
$250,000 ; its location to be north of Kinzie street. The middle park to be located 
between Kinzie and Harrison streets, to contain at least one hundred acres, and the 
cost not to exceed $400,000. The southern park to be located between Harrison 
street and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad line ; to contain at least 100 
acres, and its cost to be limited to $250,000. The aggregate cost of the parks and 
boulevards was limited to $1,050,000. 

Work of Acquiring Lands. — The public will hardly conclude that the duties of 
Messrs. Greenebaum, Hitt and Runyan, were of a light or easy character, under 
the restrictions and limitations above noted. In July they submitted ten plans. 
These were exhibited for ten days, and offers for sale of lands and donations were 
invited. However they met with little response, and the committee prepared three 
other plans. These last secured sufficient donations and offers for sale to warrant 
the committee in definitely locating the parks and boulevards within the boundaries 
which now surround them. This was done early in November, 1869. As in the 
case of the south parks, prices immediately advanced to an exorbitant figure on all 
the lands selected, and the Board were compelled, in equity to the people, to wait 
until concessions of from 25 to 30 per centum were offered. They made the pur- 
chase money payable in three installments, thus dividing the special assessments 
into three annual assessments, instead of raising it in one, by condemnation. The 
Board has power to levy and collect special assessments on lands benefitted ; to 
issue bonds to pay the amounts found payable, and also for any deficiency which 
may exist after the other resources of the Board are exhausted. It is, however, the 
cause of much delay to make and collect these special assessments. 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 327 

A provision was made by the city to devote the $Soo,ooo, which was to be 
derived from the sale of the lake front to the railroad companies, to park purposes 
by equal division, or $200,000. As this sale has never been consummated, owing 
to legal obstacles found to exist, this appropriation, of course, can not be counted 
upon. 

At the close of the first year's labor the Commissioners had acquired 450 acres 
of land, leaving 311 acres yet to be secured. At the end of the second year they 
had acquired nearly the whole. The purchases were all concluded by the 12th day 
of May, 1870. On the 19th of May they petitioned the Circuit Court to appoint 
three Assessors to affix the value of lands belonging to parties who would not sell at 
the prices offered. The Court appointed as such Assessors, Nathan Allen, Pleasant 
Amick and Garrett L. Hoodless. On the 25th of July the Circuit Court confirmed 
their assessment of $231,835.73, and also the amount of the condemnation pro- 
ceedings, which was, in round numbers, $74,000. 

Douglas Park. — Douglas Park is in the shape of an oblong square, extending 
from Twelfth to Nineteenth street, north and south, and from California avenue to 
Yaeger street, east and west. The topography of the west parks is naturally a dead 
level, and Douglas Park lies low as well — hence the large use of its surface for 
ornamental lakes, a desideratum in view of the considerable distance of these parks 
inland from Lake Michigan. Its area is 180 acres. The main entrance is at the 
corner of Twelfth street and California avenue, from an ellipse, in the center of 
which will be a handsome drinking fountain. The greatest diameter of this ellipse 
is 250 feet, and its shortest 175 feet. The fountain will be approached by converg- 
ing walks, and seats and bowers will surround it. From the center of the inner 
rim of the ellipse will be a grand promenade and drive leading to. the circle which 
will surround the grounds of the new Douglas Monument, which is to be 70 feet in 
diameter at its base. Around this is a concourse of ample width, being the com- 
mencement of the grand circle drive, which is two and one-quarter miles long, and 
will wind around the inner border of the park about ioo feet from the fence at its 
nearest point. It will be 50 feet wide, graded, macadamized and curbed. Serpen- 
tine walks will cover the grounds of the park, like finely patterned web work, and 
lead to all the interesting localities. Fed by the artesian well, which is located in 
the north part of the park, will be a large lake or lagoon, divided into three parts, 
with the largest part in the center of the park, the whole extending from near the 
north boundary to near the southern limit of the park. At the necks, massive stone 
bridges, 50 feet wide, will be built. Just north of the northern bridge will be a 
waterfall two feet high, and extending a distance of 150 feet across the narrow por- 
tion of the north lake. Branches from the great circle drive cross the park over 
these bridges. 

On the north side of the center lake in the park will be a large refectory for 
refreshments and amusements. Around this, on the lake shore, will be a massive 
stone railing. The terrace and music-stand will occupy a large space on the 
opposite side of the lake. The play-house will be on the north shore of the lower 
lake, south of the terrace. Two handsome islands will be made on the eastern 
part of the lower lagoon. They will be connected with the shore, and with each 
other, by foot-bridges of rustic design. On the lower island, overlooking the lake, 
will be a summer-house and belvidere. In the southwest corner of the park will be 



328 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

a rotunda and a large cascade, elegantly located on raised ground. A little west of 
the circle drive, in the north part of the park, will be the dairy and farmstead. A 
branch from the main drive will pass out of the park in the southeast corner through 
a triangular space ornamented with trees and walks. At about the center of the 
park, north and south, on the west side, is to be a large concourse for carriages. 
West of the terrace is to be the boat landing, approached by heavy stone steps 40 
feet long, leading down to the watei\ On the great open lawn, north of the center 
lake, no trees or shrubbery will be placed. The water in the upper lake will be 
nine feet deep, and in the central and lower lakes, eight feet deep. 

The Douglas Park Boulevards* — Ogden boulevard, which enters the park and 
passes through it in a southwestern course, is an extension of Southwestern avenue. 
which has its northern terminus at the east end of Union Park. This boulevard is 
150 feet wide, and extends through to Riverside, forming, when completed, a con- 
tinuous macadamized drive from Randolph street to Riverside. At its intersection 
in Douglas Park with the circle drive, will be placed a very large fountain. Its 
width, from this fountain to the western border of the park, diminishes to 60 feet, 
and widens again to 150 feet. 

Douglas boulevard, which connects Douglas with Central Park, is 250 feet wide 
throughout. At the end of its westward stretch (Hamlin avenue) is a space 400 
feet square. Here it turns north to Central Park. It will have a planting place 120 
feet wide in the center, and a drive on each side of this, 40 feet wide, graded, macad- 
amized, curbed and sewered. Also, spaces 25 feet wide at each side for trees and 
sidewalks. 

A peculiar excellence in Douglas Park is the large amount of lake surface, 
affording scope for a good row, no matter how many boats are out. The Commis- 
sioners have, through a great deal of hard labor and hard thinking, worked out the 
problem of the West Parks improvement, and have now such a perfect working 
system that there will be no failure or uncertainty about the carrying out of the 
plans. True, the improvements are not finished ; they are but begun as yet, as the 
drawbacks of the fire and some litigation in collecting the special assessments have 
caused the work to proceed more slowly than it would have done without these hin- 
drances ; but the progress has been sure, and will go forward rapidly until all is 
fulfilled. 

The main sewer of this system of parks and boulevards will be located on Kedzie 
avenue, it having been found that by running a large main through to the river, it 
would drain all of the three parks, and render all the acres near them dry and 
admirably suited to residence purposes. 

Central Park. — Central Park, is laid in an oblong, with an arm extending east 
from the eastern border of the main area. It is bounded as follows: Its southern 
limit extends, diagonally, along Barry Point road in a southeasterly direction, from 
Central Park avenue to Hamlin avenue, which bounds the whole on the west. Its 
northern boundary runs directly east and west along the line of Kin'zie street, or the 
Chicago and Northwestern railway, from and to the same north and south avenues. 
The eastei-n extension is bounded by Lake and Madison streets on the north and 
south, and by Homan avenue on the east. This extension, or arm, contains forty- 
four acres of area, and reaches 1,000 feet further east than the north and south 
elongation. The main body of the park contains 141 acres, making the total area 
185 acres. 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 329 

The improvement of this beautifully planned park was commenced in the spring 
of 1872, under the direct supervision of the Park Commissioners. The first sod 
was lifted in the eastern part of the eastern part, or that part between the two right 
angles formed by its plan. 

The main entrance is from Washington street, which, according to the plan of 
the Commissioners, is to be widened from the railway crossing, just west of Western 
avenue, to the park, to a width of 150 feet. At the main entrance is a semi- 
circular space with 120 feet radius, in the center of which are planted six large elm 
trees, and across the space are posts and chain to confine travel to the driveway at 
each side, The exit of the arc is fifty feet wide, and leads into the main drive, 
which encloses an oval of about thirty acres area. 

The Fire Monument. — Exactly in the center of Washington street, and just 
west of the main drive, at a distance of 300 feet from the entrance is a semi-circle, 
100 feet in diameter, enclosing the circular grounds on which is being erected the 
Chicago Fire Monument. 

This was commenced by laying the corner-stone with very imposing ceremonies. 
The occurrence was on October 30, 1872. 

From the report of Mr. Jenny, the architect of the monument, made to the 
President of the Commission, and read at the ceremonies alluded to, we take the 
following extract : 

" The design for this monument, prepared immediately after the fire, contemplated that 
the entire exterior should he composed exclusively of relics. On receipt of your instructions, 
that owing to the great interest taken in the matter, and the prominent position selected in 
the park system as its site, I should prepare a new design, of increased importance, using 
the safes for the shaft, hut discarding other relics as too poor and insignificant for the hase 
of so important a work. 

" One of the most remarkahle facts connected with our great fire was the unprecedented 
generosity of the entire civilized world in contributing to the relief of our needy sufferers. 
As a slight token of recognition, we would inscribe upon this monument the names of the 
cities contributing and the amounts of their most liberal donations. For this purpose eleven 
large tablets are arranged on the walls of the first story, corresponding to the openings in a 
Gothic arcade, and a twelfth panel is a doorway leading into the stairway to the terrace above, 
where are eight other Gothic panels and tablets. The interior walls of the first and second 
stories are decorated with other panels for inscriptions and such cut stone as were obtained 
from destroyed buildings. The summit of the spire is surmounted by a quadruple Gothic 
column, on which stands a female figure holding aloft in both hands a naming torch, emble- 
matic of destruction by fire." 

Other Ornaments and Attractions. — At the southeast and northeast corners, 
and also at the grand entrance opposite Washington street, are four paths, fifteen 
feet wide, laid out in avenue style, with trees each side and leading to all portions 
of the park. These have numerous branches, of course, and are laid out in every 
conceivable direction. A large number of these walks converge towards the oval 
enclosed by the main drive which they enter from every direction. The southeast 
portion of the eastern arm is made into a gently sloping elevation eleven feet high 
at its apex, and covering, at its base, fifteen acres of ground. The summit takes 
the form of an ellipse 240 feet wide at its greatest, and 200 feet wide at its smallest 
diameter. This mound is completed. 

The prominent feature of this elevation is the play-house, now in process of 
erection. It is 60x70 feet in size, of a most elaborate and beautiful rustic design, 
with an open court in the center 60 feet in diameter. In this court will be a rustic 
fountain 20 feet in diameter. The four corners of the play-house are treated as 
pavilions. Seats and tables for 800 people will be arranged inside. The floor will 



330 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

be asphalt. At the four corner entrances will be drinking fountains in rustic. 
This house will have cost, when completed, from $2,000 to $2,300. The whole 
western portion of the mound will be treated as forest, with large trees and flower- 
ing shrubs. 

The ladies' cottage will be located north of the play-house. It will have a large 
waiting-room and two toilet-rooms, completely fitted. It will also have six closets. 
The whole will be heated, in winter, by a neat stove in the center of the building. 
The outside of the building will be rustic, very substantial. In front of the 
entrance will be two large rustic flower baskets, and the portion above the ceiling 
will be made into pigeon-houses, The gents' cottage will be in the north part of 
the main drive on the north side of the park. It will be square, with octagon pavil- 
ion on each side. The two entrances will contain toilet fixtures. The five closets 
will be surrounded by a central hall. The side pavilions will be used for storage 
of stools, and so forth. 

The lake of this arm or extension has been excavated and filled from the arte- 
sian well. The water is seven feet deep, in summer, which depth is, in winter, 
diminished to four feet, for skating purposes. A large island is left in the western 
part of the lake. It is approached by two rustic bridges from the walks which 
approach the refectory, which last will be of ample size, in rustic design and nicely 
filled up. 

Another expensive and beautiful improvement to be built is the viaduct at the 
intersection of Madison street and the main drive. It will be built the full width 
of the drive. Above the masonry will be several feet of soil, and this will be so 
covered with shrubs and evergreens as to conceal the work entirely. The cost of 
this splendid feature of the west park improvement will not be less than $20,000. 
The works above described are entirely comprised within the forty-four acres of 
area included in the eastern extension of the park. 

Among the things mapped out for consummation in due course of time are the 
following, all included in the main park, or rather the larger part of the park lying 
west of the portion we have been describing. At present this part is almost in its 
natural state. Some of the principal ornamentation of the grounds is to found here. 
The western lake will be in the center, and covers an area of ten acres. It will 
be of uniform depth with the other lakes, and like them furnished with ample 
sewerage. The artesian well of Central Park, which flows, by actual measurement, 
619,000 gallons per day, feeds both of its lakes. It is 1,220 feet deep. Each park has 
an artesian well, and there is also one on Humboldt boulevard. They furnish an 
ample and never failing supply of water for the lakes, for irrigation to the trees, 
and for all other purposes for which it is required. The cost of the wells has been 
about $5,000 each on the average. 

On the western boundary of this last named lake will be an oriental terrace, 
which will cover eight acres, twice the area of the Court House Square. In the 
center of this will be a handsome music stand, and monumental pavilions for private 
parties on the corners. Two large boat-landings are approached from it, fitted 
with stone steps and every elegant convenience. On the west of this terrace is a 
large concourse for carriages. The terrace will be surrounded with heavy stone 
railings, at the corners of which will be unique and beautiful flower-vases of the 
same material. It is designed to cover a portion of the area with ornamental tiling. 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 331 

Seats and sofas will be disposed in convenient places. The vicinage of this terrace 
will be treated as a flower garden. A large refectory will be located on the north 
shore of this lake. 

The Winter Garden is designed to constitute one of the most attractive features 
of the park. It will be eight hundred feet long and eighty feet wide. At the west 
end will be a large house for propagating plants, and at the east end a plant house 
of like size. The whole will be a splendid conservatory, built almost entirely of 
glass, in tasty architecture. The dairy, deer paddocks, etc., are to be located in the 
south part of the park. In the north part of the park will be a space of twenty- 
eight acres devoted to a zoological garden. Another viaduct will be built at the 
railroad track of the Chicago fend North-western railroad, connecting with Central 
Park Boulevard. The entire surface of the park will be planted with trees and 
shrubs, and fitted with seats, arbors, fountains, and so forth. 

Central Boulevard. — Central boulevard extends from the northeast corner of 
Central Park to a point a little north of Kinzie street. There it expands into a 
small square and runs directly east to Sacramento Square, or Sacramento avenue . 
From this it proceeds due north, 250 feet wide, until it strikes Grant avenue — a 
thoroughfare whose former name, Whisky Point road, was certainly not given it by 
a real estate fancying community. At this point the boulevard widens to 400 feet 
and so continues until Humboldt Park is reached. The plan for the ornamentation 
of the boulevard for a considerable distance south of its entry into Humboldt Park 
is quite elaborate, embracing a monument stand 100 feet in diameter and a floral 
parterre 100 feet wide by 600 feet long. This boulevard is graded (but not as yet 
finished) for a central drive, 50 feet wide, two side drivers, each 25 feet wide out- 
side of which are two equestrian roads, each 31 feet, and beyond those two side- 
walks, each 8 feet wide. Among all are six rows of tall elms, already set^a thriving* 

Humboldt Park, — This is the northernmost of the series of three, and embraces 
225 acres in area, lying in section I of township 39, range 14. It is bounded north 
by North avenue, east by Augusta street, south by Genessee street, and west by 
Kedzie avenue (called here Simmons avenue). The main portion of the park has 
an area of 160 acres, and the south portion of 65 acres. 

The main entrance is from the southeast corner of the 160-acre tract, through 
an arc 200 feet in diameter. In this arc, on each side of the drive, will be a monu- 
mental fountain. The whole will be treated with macadam instead of grass plat. 
From this entrance the main circle drive stretches, surrounding nearly the entire 
area of the park. The principal feature of this entrance will be the mall, 80 feet in 
width and 800 feet in lenth, planted with four rows of large trees, with circular 
seats placed beneath them. The mall ends in an ellipse 200 feet in diameter, em- 
bellished with flower-beds. This will be for pedestrian travel only. 

The upper terrace will crown the west end of the mall. This terrace will be 
elevated four steps above the level, and in the center will stand a monument of 
Baron Von Humboldt. Four groups of large trees will be disposed about the mon- 
ument. This terrace will be surrounded with a handsome and very substantial 
stone parapet. From twelve stone steps, 30 feet in width, descending from the 
western side, the lower terrace, projecting out into the lake, is reached. In the 
center of this will be a magnificent fountain, 60 feet in diameter. Two smaller 
fountains will be placed at the parapet of the upper terrace. The lower terrace 



332 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

is two feet above the water, which at the west side of the terrace is approached by 
handsome steps, affordingan excellent boat landing. 

The music-stand will be located on an island about 200 feet from Ae terrace ; 
and another and a larger island will be situated west of this, and devoted to a flower 
garden, pleasure ground and refectory. A large concourse for carriages and horses 
will be located about 300 feet from, and west of the terraces. Here, water will be 
provided for horses, and other conveniences arranged. 

Opposite the ramble, and leading into it from the lake, will be a diminutive 
" Mammoth Cave." This will have an entrance for boats from the lake. It will 
also have an entrance from the west. A passage, 400 feet in length, will lead from 
the boat entrance into a chamber 30 feet wide, 50 feet long and 12 feet high, The 
ceiling will be supported by natural arches and embellished with stalactites. The 
light will enter through an aperture in the west side of the chamber, and just oppo- 
site this will be a cascade of twelve feet fall, coming from the artesian well. Out of 
this chamber will be a winding passage through to the Ramble. On the western 
shore of the lake it is designed to have a large rock or cliff of 16 feet elevation and 
300 feet in width, accessible to carriages. A Swiss chalet will be provided on this 
rock, to be used as a place for resting and refreshment. Large bird islands will be 
located in different parts of the lake. This lake covers an area of thirty-nine acres, 
and will afford three-quarters of a mile sailing in a straight line. The scenery all 
about it will be variegated and interesting. 

In the southern portion of the park will be a meadow plat, 1,000 feet in length 
and 700 feet in width. On the west side of it will be a " river," with islands, 
bridges, bowers, etc. It takes its rise from another artesian well at the south en- 
trance to the park, and empties into the lake. At its mouth a massive stone bridge 
will span it. The park will have, when completed, three artesian wells, located as 
follows : The one now completed, in the north part of the park ; one in the center 
of the terrace, and another in the southwest corner of the park. The completed 
well is 1,115 feet deep, and flows 600,000 gallons per day. Around the south well 
will be a monumental pavilion ; over the north well, a vine-covered arbor ; and 
around the center well, a large basin. Around the meadow borders, in the south 
part of the park, will be a forest, through which winds the south branch of the 
main serpentine drive. A strip of 750 feet width across the northeast corner of 
the park is now completed. 

History of Lands Around Douglas Park. — Of the history of tracts in the 
neighborhood of Douglas Park, there is but one episode at hand of sufficient note 
to be mentioned here. The forty acres lying between Twelfth and Sixteenth 
streets, and some distance west of Kedzie avenue, is Daniel Goodwin's subdivision, 
purchased by him four years ago at $500 per acre. ' The last piece sold from this 
brought $3,500 per acre. This has a north front on Twelfth street, which is block 
I. Blocks 3 and 5 were sold at the same time, and to the same party, S. J. Walker, 
for $2,500 per acre ; block 2 is now owned by Hon. Lucius Fairchild, of Wiscon- 
sin ; block 6 belongs to Mr. Davidson, who paid, some time ago, $2,000 per acre. 
Garrabrant & Hyde purchased, in September, 1871, block 4 of this subdivision. 
They paid $2,500 per acre for it. The whole is now held at from $4,500 to $5,000 
per acre. 

Around Central Park. — Just east of the southern terminus of Central boule- 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 333 

vard, and north of the park, is Harding's subdivision of the west half of the north- 
east quarter of section 11. Mr. J. M. Mason purchased five acres, being block 13 
of this tract, in 1869. He paid $1,400 per acre. In two weeks he sold it for 
$1,750 per acre to Mr. Wetherell. Eighteen months thereafter Mr. Wetherell dis- 
posed of it to Mr. Phinney at $2,500 per acre. In the same manner, Mr. Mason 
bought blocks 6, 7 and 8 of this subdivision, at $1,600 per acre. In six months 
thereafter he received from non-residents $1,800 and $2,000 per acre. These par- 
ties have refused $3,300 per acre for block 8. 

In Morton's subdivision of the east half of the northwest quarter of section 1 1, 
Mr. Mason bought, in the fall of 1869, a tract of J. F. McCauley, at $1,600 per 
acre, who sold a part of it again the same year at $2,000. Mr. Mason also pur- 
chased, in 1869, a block of five acres in the east half of the northeast quarter of 
section 11, with frontage on Chicago avenue, of J. F. Pearson, at $1,350 per acre. 
He sold it, in the following September, to John F. Weage, for $2,000 per acre. 
The latter gentleman now asks $4,000 per acre for it. Block 14 of this subdivision, 
adjoining block 14 on the east, was purchased eight years ago at about $200 per 
acre, and sold six years ago to Thomas Chamberlin for $600 per acre. Mr. Cham- 
berlin sold it last April to Isaac E. Scott at $3,600 per acre, and he in turn has con- 
veyed five lots at $60 per foot, or at the rate of $8,000 per acre. Blocks n and 14 
wex^e formerly owned by Benjamin Lombard, who sold it to Mr. Chamberlin, six 
years ago, at $600 per acre. Mr. Chamberlin still owns it, and has refused $5,000 
per acre for the property. 

In October, 1868, John H. Dunham sold blocks 10, 15 and 16, in Hamlin's sub- 
division of the west half of the northeast quarter of section 11, to Henry M. 
Thompson, for $10,000, fifteen acres. Soon afterwards Mr. Thompson sold block 
10 to Wm. C. Dixon for $3,000. In March, 1870, Mr. Dixon sold the same to Wm. 
H. Phinney for $9,000. In the spring of 1872, Mr. Phinney sold 100 feet of this at 
$40 per foot, to Wallace A. Lowell. Mr. Phinney still owns a portion of the block. 
In October, 1872, Mr. Phinney sold seven lots from block 10 to Isaac Claflin for 
$6,000. He holds his remaining interest in this block at $100 per foot. 

Twenty acres, lying on both sides of the boulevard in the southwest quarter of 
the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 11, was sold by Mr. Han- 
cock, of Boston, in the fall of 1872, to Mr. Gerrish, of that city, for $50,000. Mr. 
Gerrish sold it in the following May to William' Deering, of Portland, Maine, for 
$68,000. It is now held at $100,000. 

In August, 1864 Wm. J. Morton sold to Helen M. Kelly the east half of the 
southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 1 1, twenty acres, with north 
and south fronts on the boulevard, for $4,500. In January, 1869, Helen M. Kil- 
patrick {ne'e Kelly) sold the tract to Henry W. Blodgett, for $12,000. In February, 
1869, the south half of the above tract was sold to Fred. A. Weage and John F. 
Ebarhardt, for $15,000. These parties sold it in 1870 to Lewis P. Haywood for 
$20,000. Mr. Haywood subdivided it, and it is known as Haywood's subdivision. 
In T.872, he sold block I on the east half of the ten acres to F. A. Bibber, of Port- 
land, Maine, for $16,000. Within two months thereafter Mr. Bibber sold three 
lots at $40, and three at $50 per foot. These lots front on the boulevard. The 
balance is now held at $60 per foot. 

Phinney's subdivision of ten acres, lying north of the north ten of the twenty-acre 



334 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

tract owned by Deering et a/., was bought by Mr. Phinney, in December, 1869, ot 
John C. Grierson and Wm. C. Lawrence, for $16,000. It has been sold out in 25- 
feet lots at from $250 to $300 each. In July, 1872, Samuel W. Kroff purchased 
thirty lots in this subdivision for $10,000. Mr. Kroff has sold, this year, six lots at 
$650 each. 

R. P. Blanchard owns the following tracts : Two hundred feet on the southeast 
corner of Kedzie avenue and Madison street ; 95 feet on the southwest corner of 
the same streets ; 300 feet north front on Madison street, at the southeast corner of 
Spaulding avenue. All the above tracts, are held at from $75 to $100 per foot. 
Mr. B. also owns twenty lots in Kimball's subdivision. 

Over fifty acres, with west and north front on Central Park, on its eastern side, 
constitutes the Central Park addition. The east half of this twenty-five acres, was 
bought, in 1868, by Shortall, Busby et at., at about $1,000 per acre. Wm. D. Web- 
ster bought the west half about the same time, at $1,500 per acre, and sold it the 
next year at $3,000 yer acre, to a Mr. Douglas. Lots in this addition sell at from 
$60 to $70 per foot. 

Next south of this is the Bradley & Honore subdivision, eighty acres. Mr. 
Blanchard owns thirty lots in this, worth $750 each. This subdivision is the west 
half of the northeast quarter of section 14, 39, 13. 

Nineteen acres east of the eastern edge of the park is known as Peck's sub- 
division. It was purchased by Andrew Schall, three years ago, at $3,500 per acre. 
He has sold it out at an average price of $9,000 per acre. 

The Central Park second addition was purchased, in 1869, by Smith & Bullock, 
at $3,000 per acre. It has been subdivided and sold at an average price of $9,000 
per acre. 

The ten acres next west of this was offered by Mr. Austin, the owner, in 1869, 
at $1,000 per acre. It was recently sold for the owner, Mr. Jackson, by W. D. 
Kerfoot, at $4,500 per acre. Jackson paid, in 1872, $4,000 per acre. 

The Peck property, being the southeast quarter of section 13, was offered, in 
1869, at $1,000 per acre. It is now worth $4,000 per acre on an average. 

The Stevens tract, with a south front on Harrison street, forty acres in all, was 
purchased by F. A. Stevens, in 1868, at a price of $1,000 per acre. It. is now 
worth $6,000 per acre. 

Next east of the park, and between Kinzie and Lake streets, is a tract of five 
acres owned by Dr. Dyche. He bought it in 1869 at $2,500 per acre. He asks 
now $100 per foot for it. 

John B. Drake owns ten acres next east of this, which he purchased in 1867 at 
$400 per acre. It is now worth $6,000 per acre. 

The twenty acres next east, together with the next twenty acres south of it, was 
sold out at trustee's sale in 1867, and bought in at $350 per acre. Within a year it 
sold at $1,000 per acre. In 1870, two years after, it was sold again by Loomis, Potwin 
& Smith, for $3,000 per acre. The Park Commissioners took the south twenty-two 
acres of this forty, in 1869, and paid $3,000 per acre for it. The west half of the 
north half of the north twenty acres was bought by Mr. Bushnell, of a Californian, 
for $4,000 per acre. The east half is owned by a gentleman residing in Alabama. 
The property is now worth $6,500 per acre, having increased to that value from $350, 
in six vears. 



PARKS OF CHICAGO. 335 

The next tract east is ten acres owned by W. D. and C. A. Kerfoot. It changed 
hands several times before they purchased, which was in 1866. Was once traded 
for oil lands, when the excitement was at its height. In 1 866, the Messrs. Kerfoot 
paid $250 per acre. Now, in 1873, it is worth $7,000 per acre, or twenty-eight 
times its value seven years before, equaling an annual advance of 400 per cent. 

The ten acres lying next east of the Kerfoot tract is owned by John Tyrell, 
who bought it of R. K. Winslow, in 1872, at $4,500 per acre. Mr. Tyrell sub- 
divided it, and is selling lots now at figures which are at the rate of $10,000 per acre. 

Arotind Humboldt Park. — Thompson's subdivision of forty acres lying north of 
the lands of the first series of the Humboldt Residence Association, and bounded 
north by North avenue, was subdivided by H. M. Thompson and sold at auction, 
shortly before the location of the parks, realizing from $100 to $150 per lot. Mr. 
Thompson was delighted with what he considered a very good price. The lots are 
now worth from $800 to $1,400 each, according as they lie. 

At the northeast corner of the park, block 7, ten acres, in Borden's subdivision, 
was purchased in February, 1870, by Isaac Crosby, for $14,000. In June, 1872, he 
sold it to E. D. Hosmer for $35,000. It is now worth $45,000. 

Eighty acres lying next west of the park, with 132 feet east front upon it, was pur- 
chased by A. and L. S. Pierce, in February, 1869, of Isaac Cook, for $20,000. 
Within six months afterwards the Messrs. Pierce were offered $2,000 per acre. A 
party came in and offered $1,800, which was immediately refused. He immediately 
increased his offer to $2,000 per acre, with a like result. Two weeks before they 
purchased, the tract was offered at $400 per acre. Its average value now is $5,000 
per acre, some choice blocks being held at $6,000. Lots in this tract are now 
selling at from $20 to $60 per foot. The north half of this eighty acres was sold 
by Mr. Waller to Weage, Eberhardt and others, at a heavy advance over what was 
paid by the parties of whom they purchased. 

The forty acres lying west of the boulevard, and opposite Hansbrough's sub- 
division, has been owned for thirty years by Asahel Pierce. He gave $320 for the 
whole. It has never been on the market. In 1868 he was offered $24,000, all in 
cash, but declined selling. It is now w r orth $200,000, or $5,000 per acre. This 
forty has a frontage both south on the park and east on the boulevard. 

The southeast quarter of section 35, lying north of this forty-acre tract, and also 
with east frontage on the boulevard, is owned by the original patentee, Edward 
Simons. While in his hands this property has risen to a value of $3,000 per acre, 
or $480,000. Thirty days after the Messrs. Pierce purchased their eighty acre 
tract, the forty acres lying south was bought at $1,000 per acre, just one hundred 
per cent, greater than the price paid for the Pierce property. William Waller was 
the purchaser. 

Clifford's addition, lying in the angle, with north and west fronts on the park, 
and containing sixty-one acres, was entered in 1852 by F. C. Clarke, who owned it 
until his death. Obadiah Jackson purchased it of the heirs in 1869, paying about 
$1,000. He sold most of it, in 1872, to Mr. Waters, at $3,000 per acre. Mr. 
Waters has sold it out to different parties, at a large advance. It is now worth 
$5,000 per acre. 

Eighty acres, east half of the northeast quarter of section 35, 40, 13, was pur- 
chased for other parties by Henry L. Hill, in 1866, at $400 per acre. In 1868, he 



336 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

sold a portion of it to Wm. A. Bill, at $1,000 per acre. He joined with the other 
owners in subdividing the tract, and the lots are nearly all disposed of at from $350 
to $400 per lot, giving an average value of $3,500 per acre. 

Blanchard's subdivision, seventeen and one-half acres, with frontage on Fuller- 
ton avenue, the boulevard, and Milwaukee avenue, was transferred, in 1869, by 
Samuel Hice to R. P. Blanchard and L. S. Thomas, at $1,000 per acre. They im- 
mediately subdivided it, and commenced selling in lots at $125 each, in 1869. The 
values steadily increased until they have now reached $625 each. 

One hundred acres lying south of this, being composed of the northwest quarter 
of the southeast quarter of section 1, 39, 13, and blocks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 of Clifford's 
addition, is owned in undivided interests as follows : Ira Holmes, 25 acres ; Hutch- 
inson & Colt, 15 acres; and the Cook County Land Company, 60 acres. Mr. 
Holmes purchased one year ago of C. A. Gregory, for $3,000 per acre. Mr. Gregory 
purchased the entire tract, four years ago, at less than $2,000 per acre. It is now 
worth $6,000 per acre. 

One hundred acres lying east of the above belongs to the Sufferns estate. Mr, 
Sufferns entered it thirty years ago. It has never been sold. Seven hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars was offered for it recently. It is held at $1,000,000. 

Between Armitage avenue and Palmer place, Messrs. Mason & Mills own the 
entire west frontage and a portion of the east frontage. To show the enhancement 
in values during the last three years we will take, as a criterion, the 10-acre strip, 
east front, at the point south of Palmer place, fronting the boulevard. In 1870, it 
was purchased at the rate of $1,000 per acre ; in 1871, was transferred for $2,600 
per acre ; and some of it has since been retailed, in small parcels, at the rate of 
$3,500 to $4,000 per acre. It is now held at about $40 per foot. 

Beebe's subdivision consists of about 80 acres of eligible and very valuable land, 
lying half a mile west of Humboldt Park and four miles from the depot at Madison 
street bridge. The ground is high and well drained, and lies upon both sides of the 
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad track. A continuous paved drive reaches 
the tract from the center of the city, via Grand avenue and Lake street. Every lot 
is supplied with pure artesian well water, free to the consumer. The commutation 
fare to the station is about equal to street car rates. The tract is bounded east by 
Central Park avenue, west by Hamlin avenue, north by North avenue, and south by 
Division street. The plan of subdivision is an excellent one, and the whole tract is 
desirable for residence purposes. The tract is owned by an association, of which G. D. 
Beebe is secretary. They purchased about two years ago. The lots are held at 
from $20 to $25 per foot. Parties desiring to build will receive assistance and 
favorable terms. 






CITY PLEASURE GROUNDS. 



Lincoln Park and its Vicissitudes — Union Park — A Woman's Notion — Jefferson 
Park — Lake Park — Mirior Public Pleasure Grounds. 



There are entirely within the city limits, surrounded by residences (except in the 
case of Lake Park, which is mostly surrounded by business edifices), the following 
public parks : 

Union Park, ...... 23 acres. 

Jefferson Park, . . . . . • 5-| " 

Vernon Park, . . . . . . 3 " 

Ellis Park, ...... 2 " 

Lake Park, . . . . . 40 " 

Wicker Park, . .... 5 " 

Washington Square, . . . . . 21 " 

The total area of these seven minor parks is 81 acres, which, added to the joint 
area of the South and West Parks, makes up a grand total of 2,353 acres of parks, 
in and about Chicago. At present this arrangement affords an acre of park 
room for every 180 inhabitants ; so that when another quarter of a century shall 
have quadrupled our population, and reduced the park area to an acre for every 
720 persons, no man will claim, if any now does, that the present allowance is over- 
liberal. 

Lincoln Park. — This is to the North Division of the city what the South 
and West Park systems are to those divisions respectively. Its somewhat less area 
is offset by its greater proximity ; and as yet it is of more public benefit by far than 
either of the other large parks, having been some years under process of improve - 
ment, and being located near a densely populated section of the city, 

Lincoln Park lies to the east of Clark street, taking in all the territory between 
that chief thoroughfare of the north division and Lake Michigan, from North avenue 
on the south to Diversey street on the north. These, at least, are the boundaries 
determined upon by the Commissioners, which give the park a total area of about 
310 acres. 

History. — It originally contained about sixty acres, and was set off for a public 
park from the lands of the Chicago Cemetery, by an ordinance of the city passed 
October 21st, 1864. At that time it bore the name of Lake Park, which was after- 
wards unofficially changed to Lincoln Park, and the grounds are known now by that 
name only. On the 10th day of February, 1837, the State Legislature authorized 
the city to purchase, of the Trustees of the Illinois and Michigan Canal Company, 
22 



338 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

the east half of the southeast quarter of section 33, 40, 14, and to use the same as & 
cemetery. The purchase was made December 22nd, 1842, and a patent conveying 
it given to the City of Chicago by the Governor of the State. The north part of 
the tract was used for burial purposes until the year i860, at which time the Com- 
mon Council passed an ordinance prohibiting its further use for that purpose. 
After the passage of this law, efforts were begun and continued, at intervals, to have 
it dedicated to the people for a park. After four years, this effort triumphed and a 
law was passed to that effect. In June, 1865, $10,000 was appropriated to com- 
mence the improvements, and in the following September a plan drawn by S. Nel- 
son, lands cape gardener, was submitted and approved. The work has been slowly 
continued, by annual appropriations, undercharge of Nelson & Benson. 

An act of the Legislature passed February 8th, 1869, explained the boundaries 
and provided for its improvement, and appointed Messrs. E. B. McCagg, Andrew 
Nelson, John B. Turner, Joseph Stockton, and Jacob Rehm, the first Board of Com- 
missioners. In 1871 the appointing of the Commissioners was made a prerogative 
of the Chief Executive ol the State, and in November of that year the Governor ap- 
pointed the following: Belden F. Culver, President ; S/M. Nickerson, Treasurer; 
E. D. Taylor, Secretary and Superintendent ; W. H. Bradley and Francis W. 
Kales. In the great conflagration the assessment rolls were burnt up, and owing 
to their destruction and other causes, the Commissioners have not yet acquired all 
the land intended to be included in the Park, and the final plans still hang upon 
their adoption. But the plan of Mr. Nelson, wiih some modifications, will probably 
be agreed upon. Enough has been done to create a great desire, on the part of all 
public spirited citizens, to see the good work pushed forward, which will be done as 
rapidly as possible. 

The following amounts have already been expended : 

In 1865 .. $ 4.546.05 

" 1866 _ 14,883.66 

" 1867 19,759.23 

" 1868 17,8-19.31 

" 1S69 31,830.72 

" 1870... 38,971-61 

" 1871 17,254-33 

" 1872... 86,880.71 

Total January 1 , 1873, $231,975.62 

The statement of the Park Commissioners, on the 1st of April, 1873, showed a 
balance of funds on hand and in the bank of $9,227.12. 

In addition to the above, the Board have expended $180,000 on the beautiful 
Lake Shore Drive, which winds along the lake shore on the east border of, and far 
beyond, the park, and in the purchase of lands for this drive lying beyond the park 
limits. This drive is really the most attractive feature of the park, and a Chicago 
institution sui generis, the Ocean Boulevard of Brooklyn being the nearest approx- 
imation to it. This drive, which already stretches two miles or more along the 
lake beach, is to be at once extended southward nearly to the mouth of the river, 
and soon northward to Evanston — a stretch of twelve miles of broad, hard, 






PARKS OF CHICAGO. 339 

pebbly driveway, washed by the waves, and commanding a splendid view of the (to 
the vision ) boundless blue expanse of Lake Michigan. This drive is, as might be 
expected, largely resorted to, especially on Saturdays, when music by a band of 
thirty pieces, under distinguished leadership, contributes its pleasurable and refining 
influence, and on Sundays, when boats and music on the water add to the eclat of 
the scene. 

Amongst the mountain of litigation which the friends and officers of the Park 
enterprise have had to surmount, that at which they are toiling at the present 
writing, is the contest of the special assessment of $1,200,000 for the purchase of 
the additional grounds referred to above. The case was decided against the con- 
testants on every point by th4 Circuit Court, from which it was appealed to the 
Supreme Court of the State, where the judgment of the lower court has just been 
reversed, on several grounds. The chief of these are (1) that the assessors of Lake 
View and North Chicago, acting jointly, were not a proper authority for levying 
taxes ; and (2) that the apportionment of benefits and consequent taxes was arbit- 
rary and not uniform. 

Union Park. — The history of Union Park is thus told in the " Real Estate and 
Building Journal," of April 19, 1873 : In 1853, Reuben Taylor took the initiatory 
step toward establishing the park, and this is how it was : Standing at the door of his 
old homestead, which stood a little north of what is now Park avenue, he observed, 
one day, a surveying party dividing the site of Union Park into lots 20 x 100 feet, 
with 10 feet alleys, for the then proprietors, Messrs. Hayes and Johnson. He went 
over to Billy Carpenter's grocery near by, and complained about cutting the land 
up so. Mrs. Carpenter, who was leaning over the counter, overheard the conversa- 
tion, and remarked, " If I was a man I would have a park there." Uncle Reuben 
and Uncle Billy took kindly to the idea, and the former posted down to Hayes & 
Johnson's office to see what could be done. He found that they would sell it to 
the city for a park at a reduced figure. He went home, drew up a petition, secured 
a number of signers, and sent it to the Common Council, and he arid Mr. Carpenter 
went down to lobby it through. Opposition came from the Randolph street alder- 
men and others, and the fight waxed hot. Finally, after six months of discussion, 
the Randolph street men agreed to support the measure if they would extend the 
boundaries named in the petition so as to take in the " forks of the road," which 
meant the point where Lake and Washington " forked " on Randolph. This was 
done, and an ordinance passed only to be vetoed by Mayor Grey. But the measure 
had got so much headway that the Council passed it over the veto, and the city 
purchased of Hayes, Johnson and others, for $60,000, eighteen acres. The park is 
laid out with walks and drives in all manner of pretty shapes ; the center is occu- 
pied by a pond in the shape of three partly formed circles, which at the two narrow 
parts is spanned with handsome iron bridges, and at the north end a rustic bridge 
and grotto underneath leads out from the shore to a diminutive island Swan, 
ducks, and other water fowl, float gracefully over its surface. A little north of the 
center are the cages of the animals, of which there is a fair collection, and several 
eagles, owls, and other wild birds, live happily in a cage near by. The beautiful 
grass plats are studded with trees, fountains, rustic seats and arbors, and, towards 
the south side, is the grand observatory in rustic material, affording, at its apex, a 



34-0 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

beautiful view of the park and a large portion of the city. It is a favorite haunt of 
promenaders and driving parties . 

Jefferson Park. — On this beautiful tract of 5 3-5 acres, bounded on the north 
and south by Monroe and Adams streets, and on the east and west by Throop and 
Loomis streets, the city has, since its purchase of Judge Thomas in 1848, for 
$1,200, expended about $40,000 in improvements . Although less pretentious than 
some of the larger parks, it is a perfect little gem, made so by the work of accom- 
plished artizans. Ponds and fountains, rustic bowers and bridges, stone cascades, 
pretty elevations and depressions, and the evergreens and shrubbery, all combine 
to make it one of the coziest and most delightful resorts in the city. Its beauty is 
heightened by the excellent class of mansions and cultivated grounds which sur- 
round it on every side, and of these the presence of the park has in turn greatly 
heightened the value. 



L 

Part VI. 



SUBURBS OF CHICAGO. 



LAKE VIEW. 



This is a large township, extending north from the city limits, a distance 
of over 5^ miles, and from the lake shore west from two to three miles. 
The south boundary is but two and a half miles from Clark street bridge. 
Its natural features are among the best in the vicinity of Chicago . The wooded 
section, in the southern edge of which Lincoln park is situated, extends along the 
lake shore, far to the north, and many miles beyond the northern limits of Lake 
View. This gives the place the very desirable advantage of grove lots throughout 
its length and breadth and affords many very pretty residence sites which hav e been 
largely taken advantage of by citizens of Chicago whose means enabled them to 
enclose large lots and build handsome homes upon them. The place is thickly set- 
tled as a consequence of these advantages, and its nearness to business centers in 
Chicago. The area of the township is about ten square miles. The lands in Lake 
View attracted early attention. The settlement dates back over a period of 
twenty years, and many of the lots having, during this long stretch of years, been 
subjected to constant improvement, the place bears something of the appearance 
of the older suburbs about the cities in the East. Viewed from the observatory of 
the new United States Marine Hospital, the whole village resembles a beautiful 
park. The government of the township (incorporated in 1865) is in the hands of a 
Board of Trustees, who have control of thoroughfares, bridges, public improvements, 
buildings, the police force, and generally of all matters usually subjected to munic- 
ipal rule. The routes of approach to Lake View from the city are as follows : One 
line of horse-cars leave Clark street bridge every twelve minutes, running north on 
North Clark street to Diversey street one-half mile within the limits of the place 
and connecting there with a dummy for Graceland, which runs once an hour. This 
trip occupies fifty minutes. A second line of horse-c#rs leave Clark street bridge at 
like intervals, and run on Clark street to Lincoln avenue — opposite the principal 
entrance to Lincoln Park — and then on Lincoln avenue in a northwest direction, 
and reaching the southern limit of Lake View at Fullerton avenue, one mile west 
from the lake shore. The Milwaukee branch of the Chicago and Northwestern rail- 
road runs through the suburb north and south with a daily service of twelve trains 
each way. In addition to the second track now being laid on this road, there are 
now under consideration two other projects looking to the development of the 
Lake View district by new railroads, one to run out of Chicago on Sheffield avenue, 
through Lake View to Evanston, on a route east of the Milwaukee track ; the other, 
a branch through Bowmanville to Evanston, to be constructed by the Northwestern 
railroad company. 

The greatest degree of activity in improvements, such as sidewalks, traveling 
facilities, etc., at Lake View, commenced but recently, the people feeling assured 
that the fine location and natural attractions of the place would of themselves in- 



344 



ITS SUBURBS. 



sure a prosperous future. But the intense action which has constantly character- 
ized the development of localities which must rely almost solely upon what man 
can do t o make them attractive, awakened them to the necessity of throwing off 
their par tial inertia and contend for all the auxiliary advantages which could be 
secured. Their natural growth made tree planting unnecessary, and the high and 
sloping nature of the ground, with its subsoil of gravel or sand, provided so much 
natural drainage that this adjunctive advantage could not assume the degree of im- 





Residence of Daniel Goodwin. 



portance attaching to it in many other suburbs. Recently, a general system of 
improvement has been inaugurated, A number of double ring brick sewers are 
ordered. One on Sunnyside (Ravenswood) avenue, from Ashland avenue to the 
north branch of Chicago river, and others on Sulzer, Nellie and Surf streets, each 
running to the lake. Road beds of cinder and gravel are ordered on a number of 
other thoroughfares. 

Ashland avenue has been opened to a width of eighty feet, and extending 
through Ravenswood southward to Belmont avenue, the point of its intersection 
with Lincoln avenue. This will be improved into a boulevard, giving a short diago- 
nal carriage route from the western part of the township to the center of Lincoln 
Park. The Ashland avenue improvement will doubtless be continued southward 
until it meets the splendid improvement of that thoroughfare made within the city 






LAKE VIEW. 



345 



limits by S. J. Walker, Esq. When this is completed, Ashland avenue will be one 
of the handsomest drives within and about the city. 

Graceland avenue, the eastern terminus of Irving Park boulevard, and which 
constitutes the carriage route from Irving Park to the lake shore drive, has been 
opened to a width of ioo feet to Southfort avenue. At the river this street is pro- 
vided with a new iron bridge. This thoroughfare, terminating at Lincoln Park, and 




Residence of Frank W. Palmer. 



the lake shore drive, constitute an excellent system adapted to the natural contour ol 
the country, and were made in the interest of the whole public ; not for the special 
enriching of speculative proprietors. 

The lake shore drive is one of the finest improvements in or about Chicago, 
and when completed will afford a carriage way 200 feet wide, extending from Indi- 
ana street to Evanston — twelve miles. The whole surface will be graveled and 
curbed as hard and level as a floor. It is already completed as far north as the 
Marine Hospital in Lake View. The superior advantages of this magnificent 
drive, the pleasant scenery along its borders, its elevation overlooking the lake, and 
its course near some of the most interesting improvements in the city and country ; 
all these and other attractions will induce those who wish and can afford handsome 
home sites to settle along its borders. Already quite a number of our wealthier 



34^ 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



class have tracts on which they will build superb houses, and it will be but few 
years before nearly all of the available ground will have been im proved in this 
manner. Land along this drive has doubled in value in a short time. It will in- 
crease four fold in the neighborhood of the city within a few years more. 

Graceland Cemetery, a small but beautiful tract of land, is located in Lake 
View. It was originally intended by the Graceland company to embr ace a consid- 
erable territory, but owing to the rapid advance of the city in that direction, and 




Residence of W. C. Goudy. 



the opposition by the people to its extension, it has been abandoned and the lands 
not already embraced within the enclosure are on the market. Ere long, interments 
there must cease and the field of Chicago's dead be fixed at a greater distance from 
the city. But the character of the lot owners, and the liberal fund provided for its 
perpetual decoration and care of the grounds render it certain that the cemetery 
will be continually increasing in beauty until it rivals Greenwood, Spring Grove, 
Laurel Hill, and Mount Auburn, in the center of the very best residence property 
in those cities. 

On the corner of Graceland and Ashland avenues, upon a lot donated by the 
Graceland Cemetery Company, an excellent brick building, 40x70 feet, is now being 
erected for the town High School. It will cost $15,000. It will be finished by the 
1st of January, 1874. 



LAKE VIEW. 



347 



Lake View Town-hall, a substantial and well designed brick building, contain- 
ing, upon the first floor, some five or six rooms and offices, and overhead a large and 
beautiful assembly room, stands on the corner of Halsted and Addison streets, was 
built in 1872, at a cost of $17,000. It is used not only for municipal purposes 
but also for concerts, lectures and religious services. At Ravenswood, also, an 
annual course of lectures is given. 

Upon the lake shore, just north of Graceland avenue, stands the United States 




Residence of J. B. Waller, Esq. 

Marine Hospital, a magnificent stone building, 360 feet long and four stories high. 
It has just been completed at a cost of $500,000. Its location in the center of a lot 
of ten acres, upon a ridge fronting the lake, and being in full and near view of all 
the passing shipping of the harbor, is one, which for healthfulness, beauty and appro- 
priateness, cannot be surpassed anywhere. 

The improvement and decoration of the hospital grounds already commenced 
will not be completed until next season. Government buildings and grounds, every- 
where kept with extreme neatness and taste, are always desirable neighbors. The 
United States Marine Hospitals, and Soldiers' and Sailors' Homes, at Washington, 
Pensacola, and other places, are the centers of park neighborhoods ; and so, we 
confidently predict that the lake shore property in this vicinity will, within five 
years, present an exceptionally fine line of villa residences. 



148 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Property along the lake shore within a mile of the park is worth $100 per foot. 
North of this it ranges from $75 to $45 per foot, according to its distance from the 
city. The principal owners are Messrs. B. F. Culver, W. K. Nixon, Maj. Goodwin, 
S. B. Chase, J. II. Rees, Thompson, J. V. LeMoyne, Hubbard, Boyden, Lill, 
Walker, H. G. Spafford, F. Tyler, and others. A majority of these owners are 




Residence of J. A. Huck. 



holding surplus land for certain increase. Major Daniel Goodwin owns near the 
Marine Hospital a beautiful home, illustrated on page 344, and six acres of taste- 
fully ornamented grounds surrounding it. He purchased the grounds in 1871 for 
$30,000. 

This beautiful Gothic house was erected at a cost of $40,000, and is a model for 
that class of residence architecture. The neat porches on the west and south sides 
are in fine proportion with the shapely gables of the roof. It is a commodious 
structure, with excellent interior arrangements, which need no description in detail. 
The beauty of the grounds is hardly surpassed in any of our suburban localities, 
and the Major is still improving them. The investment in the property is worth 
$50,000. 



LAKE VIEW. 



349 



Mr. S. H. Kerfoot, for many years prominently identified with the real estate 
business, owns about seventy acres, also near the Marine Hospital. He purchased the 
tract in 1853, paying $100 per acre. He began making improvements at that time, 
and has continued them ever since, until now the land is worth, on the lake shore, 
from $100 to $150 per foot, and elsewhere its value ranges from $40 to $70 per foot. 
He has improved so many of his blocks by planting extra trees in regular order, 
opening up and grading and graveling walks and drives, and in various other ways 
beautifying them, that it is hard to tell which he calls his home. At present he 




Residence of S, B. Chase. 



occupies a very tastefully arranged cottage on. a block of nine acres, highly orna- 
mented, but his plans for his permanent dwelling on his large and exquisite 
grounds, extending to the lake shore, promise a homestead and surroundings une- 
qualed in the vicinity of Chicago. Some of the single blocks in Mr. Kerfoot's 
interest are worth $125,000. 

Mr. B. F. Culver has done at least as much as any other party for the develop- 
ment of the town. He first purchased a tract of ten acres in 1S66, paying $600 
for it, and ten acres in the following year, paying $1,500 per acre. These two 
pieces of property lie between Wellington street, Barry avenue, the Evanston 
dummy road, and Lake View avenue, and sell now at $125 per front foot. In 
1868, he bought property in Baker's subdivision at $20 per foot, which has in- 
creased to $100 per foot. The property known as " Culver's Lake Front Addition" 
was bought in 1870 at $6,000 per acre. It now sells at $100 per foot. Mr. Culver 



35° 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



built the beautiful Italian villa represented on page 345, and sold it to Hon. Frank W. 
Palmer. Mr. Culver has spent much of his time and expended large sums of money 
for the benefit of the locality, and deserves the prominent mention given above.^, 

This is located on Barry avenue, and was erected at an expense of $24,000. It 
is full two stories, and attic story in height, of a very handsome design, both outside 
and in. The main entrance on the south side of the dwelling is massive, and orna- 
mented with a handsome tower, at the west side of it, which extends above the roof, 




Residence or Horatio G. Spafford, Esq. 



and culminates in a large and tastefully finished observatory. The bay features 
seen at the west end are among the most attractive arrangements about this 
building, and afford a view to the north, south, and west, of the elaborately 
adorned and extensive grounds about. The interior of the house is elegantly fin- 
ished in hard woods, and arranged with symmetry and taste. 

The residence of Mr. Goudy is in Wrightwood, fronting on Green Bay road (an 
extension of Clark street), just north of Fullerton avenue, the limit of the city. The 
house was erected in 1865, at an expense of more than $20,000, and the ground, 
with the present improvement, is now worth $50,000. It stands on a beautiful 
ridge, so that the basement story is above the surface of the ground in the rear, and 



LAKE VIEW. 351 

the main entrance is only two or three steps above it in front. The style of archi- 
tecture is exhibited by the engraving. The grounds are ornamented with shrubbery, 
flowers and fountains, and covered with native trees. The front proper is upon 
Green Bay road, but opposite is a front, with a large veranda, overlooking Lincoln 
Park and Lake Michigan, furnishing an unobstructed and magnificent view from 
every window. There is no place combining better the advantages of city and 
country than this spot. (See page 346.) 

Mr. J. B. Waller owns 53 acres of improved property, worth $80,000, and upon 
a portion of it has built his own homestead, the handsome residence represented. 
The house is a veiy large one, of a very substantial build, and looks like the fine 
old mansions to be seen in long-settled districts of the East. The reader can judge 
of the liberal outlay needed to build such a house and adorn the grounds about it, 
by a glance at the picture. The cupola commands a view of Lake Michigan and a 
large radius of country around. The material of the house is brick. The interior is 
elaborately finished in hardwood, and its fine apartments are spacious, pleasant 
and comfortable. The cost of the structure was about $75,000. (See page 347.) 

The spacious grounds surrounding Mr. Huck's house compare favorably with 
the best planned of those before mentioned in this article. They front 500 feet on 
Fullerton av enue, and extend south on Clark street 600 feet. Although the outside 
of the house is of plain and simple architecture, there are few dwellings more com- 
fortably arr anged inside. The first floor is devoted to parlors, dining room, family 
sleeping apartments, and kitchen. The second floor contains a large chamber, 
parlor, and several sleeping rooms, with all modern appliances and improvements. 
The site is valued at $225,000. Mr. Huck owns, also, a fine tract of twenty acres 
adjoining Ravenswood, in Lake View, and has sown it to grass — a preparation for 
subdivision and sale in lots and blocks next spring. (See page 348.) 

The dw elling of Mr. S. B. Chase, of Chase Brothers, the abstract men, is the 
modest but attractive villa shown on page 349. It stands in a 10-acre lot on 
the north side of Belden avenue, between the dummy road and the lake. The 
value of the house and improvements is about $18,000 ; and the ground for which 
Mr. Chase paid only $70 per acre, less than twenty years ago. Indeed, some land 
West of his present homestead, of which Mr. Chase disposed at the rate of $12,000 
per acre, was bought by him in 1852 as low ab $50 per acre. Aggravating reminis- 
cence ! 

Mr. Spafford's cottage home is located on a triangular lot containing five acres, 
in one of the most attractive spots in Lake View. The lot is bounded by Evanston 
road on the west ; Halsted street, east ; and Graceland avenue on the south. Just 
across Halsted street is the site of the U. S. Marine Hospital, and on the south are 
the grounds owned by S. H. Kerfoot, both of which are noticed elsewhere. So that 
on the south and east an extensive and beautiful lawn prospect stretches, instead of 
a view blocked by rows of buildings. Mr. Spafford has improved his home site in 
a very artistic manner, and at a large outlay. His homestead is worth $75,000. 



352 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



HYDE PARK. 



The village of Hyde Park constitutes one of the oldest and best known, as 
it is one of the most easily accessible, suburbs of Chicago. It combines to a 
degree only rivaled by Evanston the delights of rus in tirbe ; its northern boundary 
line is the southern limit of the city. It is owned by enterprising men, and is pro- 
vided with those religious, social and commercial advantages which, added to excel- 
lent topographical situation, comprise the best recommendation of a suburb. A 
first-class hotel, beautiful residences, fine drives, delightful lake privileges, and first- 
class society have given Hyde Park a reputation of an enviable character. One of 
the oldest suburbs of the city, it has kept pace in the march of improvements with 
its younger rivals, and shows, each succeeding year, an appreciation in the value of 
its territory, an increase in the number of its residents, and is in the extent of its 
useful public improvements probably the superior of any other suburb. Hyde Park, 
in this article, will be considered entirely distinct from the adjacent suburbs of Park- 
side, Cornell, Kensington, Burnside and South Chicago. It will be taken to em- 
brace the district only which is incorporated under the name of the village of Hyde 
Park, and which lies between the lake and State street, and the city limits and 
Sixty-seventh street. 

In no respect is the intelligent enterprise of the Hyde Parkers shown more fully 
than in the recent action of the village authorities in providing a regular system of 
waterworks for the village. A crib out in the lake, and tunnel communication with 
the waterworks, will furnish before many months a most admirable supply of aqua 
pura to the inhabitants of the village. Gas is also manufactured within the corpo- 
rate limits ; there is a thorough system of drainage ; and that other necessity of a 
prosperous town, a regular police force, patrols the streets. The force numbers 14 
men, and although their position is a comparative sinecure, they exercise a beneficial 
effect upon the behavior of parties occasionally driving from the city to the suburb. 

The hotel already referred to has a capacity for 200 guests. It is located near 
the beach of Lake Michigan, and from it a fine view is had of the whole lake front. 
A large female seminary was also established at the same time with the hotel, viz., 
in 1859, by C. B. Waite, Esq. 

Hyde Park has a village charter, under which it possesses all the powers of self 
government known to any city, enabling it to carry on its own local improvements. 
The city officers are Hon. C. M. Cady, of Kenwood, Mayor, or Chairman of the 
Board of Trustees, with Messrs. E. G. Clark, M. Doyle, A. D. Waldron, L. G. 
Fisher, Lester Brodner, Jr., H. Vandarbilt, W. E. Hale, and D. N. Barney, as the 
other members of the Board. 

The town corporation extends from the city limits of Chicago, Thirty-ninth 
street, twelve miles south. It is bounded on the west by State street, and on the 
east by Lake Michigan and the Indiana state line. A thorough system of drainage 
has reclaimed hundreds of acres within these boundaries, at one time thought to be 
below the level of the lake. 



HYDE PARK. 353 

The town is amply provided with means of communication with the city. The 
boulevards supply a beautiful drive, and the railroad accommodations furnished by 
the Illinois Central company are first-class. So long ago as 1855, the railroad 
company entered into a contract for the running of the Hyde Park accommodation 
trains, and at present there are a dozen trains daily, at a fare of ten cents the trip. 

The village contains about 3,000 people. It has excellent church and school 
accommodations, improved streets and sidewalks. 

The first preliminary survey of Hyde Park was made by Mr. Paul Cornell, in 
the fall of 1855. A tract of land embracing some 300 acres was platted the follow- 
ing spring. Mr. Cornell subsequently sold a portion of the plat to the Illinois 
Central railroad company, andla contract was made for the running of the Hyde 
Park passenger train, which was put on the same season. 

The pavement, however, was made slowly, and but little had been accomplished 
when the breaking out of the war diverted the attention of the people from peace- 
ful pursuits. ' In the conflict which ensued, the enterprising projectors of Hyde 
Park suffered in common with all others. The people had no surplus funds to 
invest in suburban property ; the excitement of the rapidly-following events chained 
them to the city ; and the future of Hyde Park looked exceedingly gloomy. But 
the cloud lifted as the season of strife passed away, and in 1867 the great system of 
public parks, which was destined to aid so materially the^ development of Hyde 
Park, was conceived. 

As a result of the most strenuous and persistent efforts of a few enterprising 
gentlemen, the Legislature of the State of Illinois passed an act authorizing the 
organization of a Board of South Park Commissioners, whose duty it should be to 
locate, lay out, and improve the great South Park. The provisions of the bill were 
speedily taken advantage of, as already related in our first chapter on " Parks of 
Chicago." Already the work accomplished toward the completion of these parks is 
great, and gives assurance that the further improvements to be made will render the 
magnificent South Park of Chicago the successful rival of Central Park of New 
York. 

The fact that all these fine improvements lie within the limits of Hyde Park, 
will explain the rise in values, within seven or eight years, in that suburb ; of lands 
from $100 per acre to $15,000 per acre, at which some of its choice locations are 
now quoted. 

For lots, the demand during the past season has been good, and many sales 
have been made. The general range of prices has been from $50 to $75 per foot 
frontage ; but in districts as yet unfurnished with gas, water, and other improve- 
ments, a lower figure has been taken. 

Hyde Park offers sterling advantages in the shape of religious, social, and edu- 
cational institutions. At each of the stations on the Illinois Central railroad, 
located within the boundaries of the town of Hyde Park, and known as Forty-third 
street, Kenwood, Hyde Park, South Park, and Woodlawn, there is found excellent 
society and admirable school facilities. At Kenwood is a good brick school house, 
and a school for young ladies ; at Hyde Park, a kindergarten, admirably kept by 
Miss Knox. Among other churches, the following are to be noted : a Congre- 
gational church on Forty-seventh street ; an Episcopalian church on Hyde Park 

23 



354 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

avenue, near Fiftieth street ; a Presbyterian church on Oak street, in Hyde Park, 
costing $50,000 ; and a Catholic church on Fifty-fifth street. 

The residents of Hyde Park are taken from the best classes of our citizens. 
The many elegant residences, costing from $20,000 to $50,000, attest the fact that 
wealth has found an agreeable abode in the village, while the large number of 
pretty, modest residences, scattered throughout the whole village, bears equally 
strong evidence of the yet more important fact that the society of this charming 
suburb is not exclusive, and that all respectable citizens can find a welcome and 
pleasant society within its borders. 

Among the residents are Messrs. Hamilton B. Bogue, Geo. M. Bogue, member 
of the Board of County Commissioners, Hon. Leonard Swett, E. W. Russell, John 
Middleton, W. E. Hale, C. H. Phillips, D. A. Hills, L. A. Smith, Wm. Lears,. 
Paul Cornell, H. N. Hibbard, A. B. Dodson, H. A. Hopkiss, Jas. Morgan, P. L. 
Morgan, N. C. Parkins, W. P. Gray, J. C. Ayer, Capt. T. G. Butlin, Lyman Baird,. 
G. S. Ingraham, County Attorney, J. P. Root, J. B. Smith, H. F. Chase, R. S. 
Thompson, J. Irving Pierce, S. Benjamin, J. H. Gray, C. M. Smith, of Bradner, 
Smith & Co., and Judge B. F. Ayre. 



OAKLAND. 



This attractive little suburb is situated at the city limits, and serves as a stopping 
place for both city and suburban residents. The growth of the place has been 
rapid, and the settlement is quite extensive. The ground is admirably suited to 
suburban purposes, lying high and being well wooded. 

The residences already erected at Oakland stretch away back to Wabash avenue, 
a distance over one-half mile, and are all of excellent construction. Among the 
residents in Oakland may be mentioned ex-senator Trumbull and his brother Geo. 
Trumbull. The ex-senator has an elegant home, ornamented with that studied 
grace which is characteristic of the cultivated taste. One among the many reasons 
which the ex-senator gives for feeling pleasure at being relieved from his senatorial 
duties at Washington is that he is thereby enabled to spend more time at his 
suburban home, in pleasant Oakland, than formerly. 

Among the other residents at Oakland are G.'G. Pope, F. P. Van Wick, J. P. 
Bonfield, L. Huntington, Charles Huntington, S. Faulkner, Charles Cleaver, A. R. 
Miller, G. H. Miller, M. Hardy, and L. G. Fisher. 

Lots sell readily at fair rates, showing steady increase in values since the founda- 
tion of the suburb. 



KKN WOOD. 



355 



KENWOOD. 



If it were not invidious to draw a distinction between the many prosperous 
suburban towns in the town of Hyde Park, it might perhaps be in order to say that 
the suburb known as Kenwood was decidedly the most aristocratic of them all. 
But, bowing to the shades of republican simplicity, we will be content with the 
expression that the residences erected in Kenwood are nearly all first-class ; that 
many of them are imposing in , appearance, and that a few are fully equal to the 




N. B. Judd's Residence. 



finest structures found in any of the suburbs of this city. Kenwood is the Lake 
Forest of the south, without the exclusiveness of its northern rival. 

Kenwood is located about six miles from the Central depot, and is the next 
station after passing Oakland. It is well supplied with railroad accommodations, 
and offers the best of school and church privileges. A fine church structure has been 
erected by thi Episcopalians, and services are held every returning sabbath. 

Some of the residence property in this suburb is held at prices ranging from $100 
to $150 per foot. Lots located farther from the depot can be purchased at $75 per 



356 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

front foot. In the neighborhood of the residences of Potter Palmer and H. H. 
Honore, on the grand boulevard, just due west of Kenwood, land is held at $200 
per front foot. 

Some of the residences in this suburb are admirable. The grounds owned by 
Mr. W. K. Akerman, treasurer of the Illinois Central railroad, located at this 
suburb, are very beautifully laid out. They comprise 2^ acres of rolling ground, 
and are richly improved. The residence of Mr. Akerman is delightfully situated in 
the center of the grounds, is two stories and basement in elevation, and of a chaste 
style of architecture. It is fitted throughout in the most modern style. The Hon. 
G. W. Waite also owns a handsome residence. 

The handsome suburban residence of the Hon. N. B. Judd, Collector of the 
port of Chicago, is situated on Forty-seventh street, in Kenwood. The structure 
cost $40,000, and is most elegantly appointed throughout. It stands in a tract of 
ten acres, laid out in pleasant walks and drives. 

Mr. Frasier, of D. B. Fisk & Co., has a fine residence in this suburb. 

Among the other residents of Kenwood are to be mentioned the Hon. Charles 
H. Hitchcock, Hon. Leonard Swett, Hon. C. M. Cady, mayor of the town of Hyde 
Park, Col. George R. Clark, Mr. Van H. Higgins, C. B. Dupee, and Mr. Rand, of 
Rand, McNally & Co. 



SOUTH PARK. 

South Park is eligibly located at the point where the Grand boulevard crosses 
the railroad track and joins the upper end of the South Park. It is destined to 
become a favorite residence section. Already many improvements have been made, 
and several residences have been erected. 



WOODLAWN. 

About half a mile below South Park is located the pretty suburban village 
christened Woodlawn. The location is excellent, the land lying high, being well 
timbered, and in the neighborhood of important improvements. 

The property here has witnessed a rapid rise in values. Messrs. Chace & Abel'l, 
of this city, purchased a tract of eighty acres at Woodlawn in 1866, at $160 per 
acre. Lots 200 feet frontage were sold last year at the rate of $7,000 per acre. 
Acre lots brought from $4,000 to $5,000. At the present time, lots are held at 
from $20 to $150 per front foot. 

Judge Erastus Williams has an elegant residence on the corner of Woodlawn 
avenue and Fiftieth street. 

Among the principal residents at the suburb of Woodlawn are, Jas. Wadsworth, 
H. M. Wright, Wm. Fitch, A. Harvey, C. M. Lyngreen, and John Fitch. 




PARKSIDE. CORNELL. 357 



PARKSIDE. 

This suburb includes a subdivision consisting of twenty acres, lying between 
Seventieth and Seventy-first streets, and Stony Island boulevard and Madison 
avenue. In the neighborhood of the depot of the Illinois Central railroad, it is 
already well settled, with a fair class of residents. 

Property does not range so high in this suburb as in some of its neighbors, but 
it is scarcely less available. The place has good school and church facilities. 



CORNELL. 

Cornell is located at the crossing of the Michigan Southern & Lake Shore, 
Michigan Central, Illinois Central, and Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne railroads, and 
is in the center of the town of Hyde Park. It comprises a subdivision in sections 26 
and 35. in town 38, north range 14, east of third principal meridian, and the final 
plat of the suburb was filed on February 16, 1872. 

The land, in common with the greater portion of that lying in the town of 
Hyde Park, is low, but by means of successful drainage, it has been rende red one 
of the most healthy suburban locations near the city. Its splendid railroad facilities 
at once marked out Cornell as a splendid manufacturing point, and already the 
smoke from two or three extensive manufacturing works rises into a cloudless sky. 
The Crossing is eight and a half miles south of Chicago, and thanks to the extra 
train service it receives, the resident at this suburb can land in almost any part of 
the city, by the cars. More than 150 trains, of which 64 are passenger trains, pass 
through Cornell each day, and all are required by law to stop. The advantages of 
such excellent train service, both as regards passenger and freight shipments, will 
be immediately recognized. 

Of the manufacturing establishments already located at Cornell, two are deserv- 
ing of special notice. The first is the Cornell Watch Company, whose fine manu- 
facturing establishment is the nucleus of a settlement already numbering over 
seventy-five dwellings. The business transacted by this firm is constantly increas- 
ing, and additional hands are being engaged at all times. Another, and scarcely less 
important manufacturing enterprise, has also been located in the neighborhood. 
The Hall Manufacturing Company is an organization, the object of which is to 
supply artisans' tools to the workmen of the Northwest. This branch of manufac- 
tures is a very important one, and the Hall Manufacturing Company has a sure 
field of success before it. 

There is a good graded school at Cornell, costing $15,000, and church services 
are held every Sunday. The connection which will shortly be made with the water 
works system of Hyde Park, will ensure a good supply of lake water constantly. 

The property is eligibly located for residence purposes. The crossing affords 






358 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



such unequaled facilities for trains both to and from the city, that it would be sin- 
gular if the business man did not recognize the superior advantages thus offered. 
Among the residents of Cornell are the following gentlemen : Hon. S. G. Calkins, 
Henry R. Dunn, and Samuel H. Rhodes, whose handsome dwellings are valued at 
about $5,000 or $6,coo each. Mr. Curtis and Mr. J. S. Scoville own very comfort- 
able residences. The hotel, which is kept in excellent style, is now under the 
management of Mr. J. A. French. 

Among the parties who, recognizing the future sure increase in the value of 
property located in this suburb, have invested in Cornell lots, may be mentioned 




Cornell Watch Factory. 

such shrewd and well-known gentlemen as Paul Cornell, of the Cornell Watch 
Company, from whom the subdivision takes its name, J. R. Mitt, Capt. W, B. Gray, 
H. N. Hibbard, Rich & Noble, J. S. Scoville, J. H. Ely, S. S. Calkins, W. R. 
Cortrell, and others. 

The streets are all of liberal width. Stony Island boulevard is 200 feet wide ; 
Cottage Grove and South Chicago boulevards are 100 feet wide, and the other 
thoroughfares are 66 to 80 feet wide. 

Real estate values are constantly appreciating. Some of the property was 
bought for $35 per acre a few years since ; to-day, 25 x 125 feet lots fetch from 
$300 to $1,000. The demand for Cornell property has been excellent during the 
present year, and with the constant and certain progress of the suburb, a steady ad- 
vancement in values may be counted upon, without any doubt whatever. 







SOUTH SHORE. SOUTH CHICAGO. 



359 



SOUTH SHORE. 



Just south of the great South Parks, and extending from them along the lake 
shore to Clark's Point, over a stretch of one-and-a-half miles lies the South Shore 
s uhdivision of over 500 acres, which from its beautiful location has been named the 
Long Brarch of Chicago. The tract, with its wooded knolls and advantageous 
resi dence sites, is situated on a sufficient elevation to be in full view of the city 
from Lake Park, and gives one of the best prospects of any locality about the 
city. The South Park lake shore drive is laid along the margin of the lake through 
the tract. It is 150 feet wide, macadamized and ornamented, and is to extend from 
the city to South Chicago harbor. A number of people of means have improved 
these tracts here with genteel homes, and the subdivision is intended exclusively for 
this class of settlement. The Goodrich Steamboat Company are about to put in a 
pier 800 feet long, connecting with ample pleasure grounds and with the South 
Parks. They will run boats regularly in excursions to this pier. The land over- 
lies an excellent stone quarry, from the worked portion of which a railroad runs to 
the South Parks and to Hyde Park village, connecting with trains there. The 
Chicago & Indiana railway is to run through the place, giving further advantages 
of transit. The advance of the city toward the south is rapidly enhancing values in 
this locality. 



SOUTH CHICAGO. 



The territory included in the district named above, is a subdivision of about 
2,000 acres of land lying at the mouth of, and adjacent to, the Calumet river, twelve 
miles south by southeast of the city of Chicago. 

A late writer for one of the leading magazines in an article on Chicago asks, 
u Why settle such a spot when the same shore presents better sites ? " referring 
probably to the mouth of the Calumet river as the leading one of the " better 
sites." This query possesses more than a little significance. A question which 
thousands have asked after visiting the Calumet is " "Why did the government not 
choose the larger stream, with its attendant lakes and almost limitless dockage, for 
its first appropriations, and why was not Chicago started here ?" No plausable 
reason can be given. The capacity of the Calumet is far superior to what Chicago 
river in its natural state was. The land is fully as eligible as was Chicago's site. 
The spot is nearer of access to the railroads leading from the East ; but it is needless 
to enumerate advantages now. The Chicago creek secured the city and the canal 
terminus. At the time the two rivers were surveyed for the purpose of locating 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal, the engineer's report favored an outlet by the Cal- 
umet ; but engineering did not decide the point. Other interests took it further 
north in its present course. Now it is proposed to enlarge the ditch into a ship 
canal to the Mississippi river. If this is done the Calumet presents a few points 




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SOUTH CHICAGO. 361 

for consideration. The river is navigable for twelve miles for vessels of fourteen 
feet draft. A feeder to the canal already runs from Blue Island to the canal at the 
Desplaines river, and this feeder can be deepened and enlarged at much less 
expense than the dredging of the whole distance from the Desplaines to Bridge- 
port. There is sufficient depth of water in the lake in all directions from the 
mouth of the Calumet to supply a first-class harbor. This was illustrated in the 
report of the survey, as, also, the enormous capacity of the Calumet river and its 
lakes for shipping and dockage purposes. 

In 1869, a recommendation was made by the U. S. Engineer in charge of the 
harbor, Col. Wheeler, for an appropriation of $300,000 for its improvement and 
the establishment of proper piers and guards to the entrance. (The improvement 
was also strongly urged by masters of vessels, underwriters and vessel owners, and 
by others interested in the commerce of the lakes, on the ground that it would 
prove a harbor of refuge for vessels driven southeasterly by the dangerous storms of 
Lake Michigan, and which should be unable to make Chicago harbor. Numerous 
vessels have been wrecked on^the coast south of the city for want of such a harbor.) 
Thereupon the Government made the following appropriations: In 1870, $50,000 ; 
1871, $50,000 ; 1872, $40,000 ; and in 1873, $40,000 ; making $180,000 thus far 
provided. The improvement has been under the direction of Brevet. Col. D. C. 
Houston, of the United States Engineer Corps. In their official reports the U. S. 
Engineer officers have given their unqualified endorsement to the improvement, and 
have warmly recommended further appropriations for the purpose of still further 
extending and perfecting the advantages already secured. 

The first vessel with a cargo was passed into the river on the first day of April, 
1871. During that year there were 400 arrivals and departures. In 1872, the num- 
ber was about the same. Thus far this year 250 vessels have arrived and departed, 
which represented 50,000 tons burthen. The harbor is now 300 feet wide and 16 
feet deep. The north pier is 2,400 feet, and the south pier 1,200 feet long, and 
from this it will be seen that facilities are ample in every sense to vessels of every 
grade. The formation of the lake shore north of the entrance which projects east- 
wardly at Clark's Point, and the north pier being 1,200 feet longer than the other,. 
an ample lee is formed by which vessels in every kind of weather can make the har- 
bor with perfect safety. The river inside of the new entrance has good capacity 
for lake-going vessels for ten miles from its mouth. Wentworth's light-house, built 
by Gen. Webster many years ago, and afterwards abandoned, was repurchased in 
1872 and, by an appropriation from Congress made for that purpose, the light was 
established in September, 1873. 

^The river, taken with its branches, and the lakes Wolf and Calumet, furnishes 



$ 



1. South Chicago Hotel. 

2. Site Sinclair's Woolen Mills, and Kent, Bald- 

win & Co.'s Machinery Manufactory. 

3. Railroad Station Buildings of Pittsburgh & 

Fort Wayne and Michigan Southern rail- 
roads. 

4. Location of Docks, Rolling Mills, Blast Fur- 

naces, Elevators, Saw Mills, etc. 

5. Location of Ship Yard Dock. 

6. Location of Cotton Mills. 

7. Location of proposed Ship Canal to Lake 

Calumet. 



8. Casgrain House. 

9. Office of Calumet and Chicago Canal and 

Dock Co. 

10. South Chicago Planing Mill and Lumber 

Yard. 

11. Lake Calumet — three miles long, and nav- 

igable for vessels. 

12. Logan Park. 

13. United States Government Engineer's Of- 

fice. 

14. United States Lighthouse. 



362 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

fully forty miles of water frontage, which can be made available for the uses of the 
merchant marine as rapidly as required. 

The perusal of the above facts must have convinced every reader of the won- 
derful adaptiveness of the banks of the Calumet and its lakes for manufacturing 
purposes. It is destined to become the central manufacturing mart of the entire 
west and northwest, and the largest manufacturing town west of the Ohio. When 
we shall have mentioned below the industries already established in so short a time 
as four years, that fact alone should seem to cast all doubt aside of the justice of 
the above rather sweeping claim. 

But before we proceed to show the other advantages, natural and artificial, 
which are to make it so, we give the history of the organization which has the 
whole matter in charge, and state what they have accomplished, pausing only to 
state first, that the man that has most effectually worked out this mighty problem, 
who was the head and front of the initiatory and subsequent movements, and who 
has lived to see his prophesies, by many at first considered chimerical, fulfilled, is 
Col. James H. Bowen. Foreseeing with his remarkable business acumen, the 
numerous industries which have, and are to cluster at this point, he set himself at 
work to develop a plan which should prove successful in bringing all these advan- 
tages into practical working. Others saw the thing in the same light, and in 1868 
a concerted action was commenced by the purchase of large tracts of land adjacent 
to the harbor by Col. Bowen, O. S. Hough, Elliott Anthony, Chas. A. Gregory, 
Sheridan Waite, A. C. Babcock, E. G. Clark, Chauncey T. Bowen, Thos. S. Dob- 
bins, George S. Bowen, J. C. Dore, George Schneider, Leverett B. Sidway, John C. 
Haines, Wm. P. Allen, George W. Stanford, Geo. M. Pullman, John V. LeMoyne, 
James H. Rees and othei-s. A charter was obtained from the Legislature, and an 
organization effected under the the name of the Calumet and Chicago Canal and 
Dock Co. The charter bears date March 10, 1869. On the first day of April fol- 
lowing, the Company elected the following gentlemen as officers : President, James 
H. Bowen ; Vice President, Elliott Anthony; Treasurer, O. S. Hough ; Secretary, 
Chas. A. Gregory. The charter provided for the construction of a canal from the 
South Branch of the Chicago river, or the Illinois and Michigan Canal, to the Calu- 
met river, at South* Chicago, with authority to locate and condemn lands, and 
operate the said canal, construct docks, dry-docks, ship-yards, warehouses and piers. 

They proceeded to purchase lands adjacent to the mouth of the Calumet, and, 
during the years '69, '70 and '71, consolidated about 6,000 acres, extending four 
miles west of the lake, and in other favorable localities. They have invested in their 
purchases and improvements made since the organization, the enormous sum of 
$2,500,000. The lands of the Company comprise a large amount of dock frontage, 
property admirably adapted to manufacturing sites and commercial operations, a 
large tract of limestone lands, and many elevated residence sites, as well as a large 
amount of country adapted to agriculture and gardening. 

They have expended, in grading, draining and opening streets, including a ma- 
cadamized road, which extends from the city to the Calumet river, about $300,000. 
A^large amount of dockage has been constructed, the river lines straightened by 
dredging, a $30,000 hotel erected, a number of other buildings put up, and a 
quantity of general improvements consummated with the above sum. The railway 
facilities are most complete and excellent. The Michigan Southern ; Pittsburg, 



SOUTH CHICAGO. $6$ 

Ft. Wayne & Chicago ; Michigan Central ; Illinois Central ; and the Rock Island 
Branch — as the southern connection of the Chicago Belt railroad — are all made 
available. The Baltimore & Ohio will extend its line east of the Michigan South- 
ern, and have in negotiation the location of their requisite car shops, roundhouses, 
machine shops, etc, for the accommodation of their western terminus, on the lands 
of the Company. The Canada Southern, the New York and Erie extension, and 
the Continental railways ; all these, besides the Danville & Vincennes railway, 
must pass through the lands of the Company. Contracts are closed for the comple- 
tion of the last named road from Dalton to South Chicago, in the spring. 

At the opening ceremonies, on the 7th of June, there were present — in addi- 
tion to a large concourse of people — Gov. Beveridge, Senators Logan and Oglesby, 
and the Governors of several of the northwestern states, all of whom in their elo- 
quent speeches claimed for South Chicago more than has been asserted in this 
article. 

The distance between the mouths of the Chicago and Calumet rivers is eleven 
miles. The natural growth of the city will soon reach the confines of the Company's 
property. It is evident to all who see the improvements consummated and in pro- 
gress, and the almost unlimited area thoroughly drained and made available, that 
there is an unrestricted opportunity for manufacturing, commercial and marine busi- 
ness to be established and flourish, in the fullest sense equal to the demands of 
commerce and trade upon this central point of distribution. The Chicago, Danville 
& Vincennes road connects direct with the block-coal fields of Indiana, and that 
Company will locate docks for the sale of this coal, which can be laid down there 
and sold at less expense than in the city, and at rates most favorable to manufac- 
turing interests. The iron ore of Michigan and Wisconsin can be unloaded at this 
place at most favorable rates. Plenty of lime, stone, brick-clay, and other building 
materials, can be had at the very doors of the buildings. 

It has been demonstrated by actual experiment that timber logs can be safely 
towed across the lake, and made into lumber, and sold at as low a price as they 
can be sold at the yards of the Michigan mills. Messrs. Pardee, Blanchard & Co. 
have established lumber manufacturing on a large scale ; others will follow. The 
available boomage ground in the harbor gives capacity for from 500,000,000 to 
1,000,000,000 feet of logs without impeding navigation. Since the experiment of 
towing rafts across the lake has proved to be entirely practicable, and the above 
result is shown regarding the price at which lumber can be sold upon the market, a 
number of others have made propositions looking to the erection of mills, and the 
natural inference in the light of the facts seems to be that Chicago's head-quarters 
for obtaining lumber is about to be changed, and the whole lumber interest revolu- 
tionized. The navigability of the river and lakes, the vast dockage territory, etc., 
will enable manufacturers to ship lumber to the Chicago yards on terms at least as 
advantageous as Michigan can do it, and, for the eastern and western trade in that 
commodity, certainly South Chicago has a fair chance to successfully compete with 
the city market. The importance of the great advantages afforded for making 
lumber at South Chicago cannot be over-estimated, and some anxiety has reasona- 
bly arisen at those points which have hitherto been the reservoirs from which Chi- 
cago and the west have drawn their supply. 

The capacity of the above mill is 20,000,000 feet of manufactured lumber per 



364 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

year. The parties interested have 300,000,000 feet of pine standing on their lands 
at the Au Sable river in Michigan. The cuttings from the logs, consigned to flames 
and dock building in Michigan, are all made available here, and sell at good prices, 
for fuel, more than paying the freight and towage across the lake. The effect of 
this will be most sensibly felt in long timber. 

Among other improvements worthy of especial note, and of a more extended 
description than we can give them, are the following, already completed : The fine 
hotel erected by the company a short distance east of the neat depot of the Pitts- 
burg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago, & the Michigan Southern railroads ; the woolen 
mill erected by L. W. Sinclair, which is a four-story brick building, containing 130 
looms, 7 carding machines and jennies, having a capacity of 2,500 yards per day. 

The Illinois Steam Forge Works, a building 60 x 129 feet, and containing three 
ponderous mauls at work, employing fifty men. This company will also manufac- 
ture iron ore into a merchantable form, by a process which will very much cheapen 
the cost of this production. 

The Chicago Iron and Steel Works, having a capacity of four tons per day of 
tool and merchant steel, and furnishing work for a large number of men. 

The establishment of Redfield, Sargent & Co., manufacturing grist-mill machinery 
and smut machines, in a building 32x100 feet in dimensions, making first-class 
work ; and the policy of locating manufactories in the suburbs for cheapness of 
fabrication, has been pursued here as in other cities, owing to their exemption from 
municipal taxation, smaller cost of ground, cheapness of living, room for ample and 
unobstructed facilities. This location presents all of these economical advantages 
in a marked degree. 

The match factory of A. J. Griggs & Co., recently removed from Pittsburgh. 

The operating force employed by the mills is fully 800 men, including those em- 
ployed on government works. By next summer, when all the manufacturing inter- 
ests of the place are at work, there should be at least 2,250 men at work, repre- 
senting a population of 10,000, exclusive of those who settle there for other reasons. 

The Silicon Steel Works, now building, are mentioned in detail below. 

There are a number of projects under consideration for building grist-mills, 
elevators and other manufactures, with a reasonable prospect of fulfillment. What 
has accomplished all this in the space of five years ? The indomitable courage and 
energy of a few capitalists, who, probably, as faithfully as any like number of men, 
represent the distinctive characteristics of Chicago business men. No where in the 
world is so much ventured and so much fulfilled as here. Men go upon tracts which, 
to unthinking minds, appear to offer few inducements for investments, and carefully 
study out their plan, then bring their money and their arguments to bear, expend 
hundreds of thousands with little immediate return, and await results. These re- 
sults follow as certainly as a mathematical conclusion, and the sequel is in propor- 
tion to the ventures made. In this perhaps lies the solution of the problem of 
Chicago's remarkable rise and resurrection, which astonishes our neighbors in the 
east and excites the wonder and envy of capital the world over. 

Large areas in out-lying tracts in Indiana and south from South Chicago have 
been purchased since these industries have gained a footing here, and it is stated by 
the purchasers that their operations are based on assured enterprises of greater mag- 
nitude than any yet attempted. 



SOUTH CHICAGO. 



365 



To accommodate the growing commerce and use of the river, the Pittsburgh, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago, and the Michigan Southern railways, have each submitted 
plans to Col. Houston, which he has approved, for the construction of drawbridges 
of iron across the Calumet river this winter, between which there will be a passage 
way of seventy feet for vessels. The Michigan Central road have completed a first- 



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class bridge of the same character at their crossing. The town of Hyde Park has 
also made contracts for building a draw-bridge on Ninety-fifth street, at Chitten- 
don's, and at Dalton — twenty miles south — where anew subdivision called River- 
dale has been erected. At this point, now that the river is navigable to that point, 
Messrs. Martin Bros, have located a lumber-yard and purchased large grounds near 
the bridge, and have within the few weeks of its existence commenced an active 
trade. They have direct connections with the Danville & Vincennes, Great East- 



366 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

em and Illinois Central roads. Their tract is known as the Riverdale lumber 
yards. Col. Bowen's house, at Wildwood, is near this tract. 

Among other improvements for which provision is made by the Dock Company 
is a lake shore drive extended from South Chicago to Hyde Park. 

The initial cause for all the extended improvements embraced in the above 
detail, was the imperative necessity for a point, to be located near the city, from 
which Chicago could draw supplies of manufactured material. Until 1869, Chicago 
had never been known as a manufacturing city. She was at that time sending to 
other points for vast invoices of iron, machinery of every description, lumber, coal, 
etc., etc. At South Chicago, the Calumet with its lakes, with its immense natural 
advantages for commerce, a net work of railroads, a wealth of lime, clay and other 
materials lay useless in silent protest at our very doors. The demands of the city 
for articles and materials on which heavy freight tariffs rested increased every hour. 
The iron-horse could not bring them in fast enough even at the heavy prices. Some- 
thing was necessary to be done, and the gentlemen above named solved the diffi- 
culty in the manner above stated. 

The results of their enterprise has, in magnitude, far exceeded their expecta- 
tions. The city is most signally benefited by the industries at work now at that 
point, and she will be benefited in the same ratio as South Chicago's manufacto- 
ries increase. The facts are before the reader, and are too plain to need extended 
comment. It need only be added in conclusion that the Calumet and Chicago 
Canal and Dock Co. are extending every favor and every aid possible to manufac- 
turers settled upon their lands, and offer the most favorable inducements to others 
to swell their number by gathering in their capital at this focal point of industry. 
The company will place in market a considerable quantity of the most desirably 
located lands, in the early spring, to meet the demand so rapidly increasing. 

Taylor s Additions. — During the two years last past, Mr. D. S. Taylor has pur- 
chased two hundred and ninety-seven acres, lying sou th of and near the South Chi- 
cago harbor, and east of the Calumet river, paying all the way from $200 per acre 
to $1,200 per acre for it. The frontage on Douglas Slip, seen in the map, is 2,500 
feet, and the tract borders on the four slips to be cut from the Calumet river, thus 
giving dockage enough for a large place. The dockage on Douglas Slip is already 
provided, and has direct access from the harbor, sans bridges or other obstructions. 
The natural attractions of the lake shore for excellen t residence sites will be seen 
at once. 

The Michigan Southern and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroads 
traverse the tract in an oblique direction towards the southeast, and the Baltimore 
& Ohio, one of the staunchest and best constructed roads in the country will be 
completed through, in a similar course, by next spring. By that time, also, all trains 
on the three roads will stop at the stations, as they do now on the west side of the 
river. One half a mile of side track is constructed from the Pittsburgh road to the 
location of the Silicon Steel Rolling Mills located in the southwest corner of the 
tract. This company has purchased twenty-six acres from Mr. Taylor and twenty- 
six acres from the Colehour interest, adjoining on the south, and leased from the 
South Chicago Canal and Dock Company twenty-six acres more. On this tract they 
are erecting a splendid Silicon steel rolling mill, which will have a capacity of 100 
tons of finished rails per day. The Silicon Steel Company of New York are sole 



SOUTH CHICAGO. 367 

proprietors of this enterprise, and also of extensive and successful rolling mills at 
Sandusky, Ohio, and Rome, New York. They own also the Silicon Steel Ore 
Mine at York, Pennsylvania. Their large experience enabled them to foresee the 
sure future of what will prove, in time, to be the most important manufacturing 
point west of the Atlantic Ocean, and hence they are expending the sum of from 
$250,000 to $300,000 on buildings and machinery, and when the works are com- 
pleted they will need the constant services of 300 workmen. Besides the rail mill, 
extensive furnaces, machine shops, etc., will be built, making the whole investment, 
at least, $500,000, and furnishing employment to 800 men. 

Taylor's addition was subdivided last July, and the sale of lots began immedi- 
ately. Since then a number of good improvements have been provided in building, 
fencing, grading, laying sidewalks, etc, 

Mr. Taylor has just completed and rented a large brick hotel costing $10,000. 
It is now nearly filled with men working on the rolling mills. Several manufac- 
turers are holding the locality under advisement, and doubtless a number of new 
enterprises will be inaugurated ere long. 

Iron-workers Addition to South Chicago. — This subdivision was made in the south 
half of section 8, 38, 15, and is laid out on a carefully considered and generous plan, 
adapted to meet the demands which its commanding situation will require it to fill. 
Twelve blocks in the vicinity of the Rolling Mills and docks are laid out with 
streets 66 feet wide, lots about 125 feet deep and alleys 14 feet wide. All other 
streets, except Indiana boulevard, are 80 feet in width, the lots 170 feet deep and 
alleys 20 feet wide. The Indiana boulevard, originated in this subdivision, and 
laid out 100 feet in width, has already been extended both ways over adjoining 
lands, and will be continued further. 

This addition contains a triangular tract in the southeast corner of the north 
half as well as all the south half of the section ; thus securing nearly half a mile of 
front at the extreme southwestern corner of Lake Michigan. The course of the 
shore is here south-southeast, while a mile east, at Sheffield Harbor (Wolf Lake), it 
is due east. The addition is bounded on the west by thewharfing lots on the Calu- 
met river, and on the east by Lake Michigan and the prospective manufacturing 
city of Sheffield. 

The west half is a high gravel ridge covered with a dense growth of forest trees. 
This is divided from a second timbered belt by a narrow prairie. East of this belt, 
a second prairie extends more than a mile to the south, from which, by a barely 
perceptible ascent, we reach the timbered table lands along its line. 

The history of this addition is brief. Until late in the summer of 1873 its sur- 
face was in a state of nature, broken only by a single wagon road and the rich farm 
upon the southeastern portion. After the Silicon Steel Company had purchased 26 
acres in the northwest corner for their rolling mills, the plat was carefully surveyed. 
In September it became evident that to accommodate the workmen in the great 
factories in progress in the vicinity, nearly a thousand homes must be provided by 
early spring, and work of opening the streets began in earnest. In the midst of 
this the financial crisis came, but the work was not abated. The demands upon 
the Steel Company required that their rolling mills should be in operation by 
spring, and habitations for the men must be prepared. As soon as the ground was 
sufficiently prepared to be exhibited, in the midst of the financial pressure, an auction 



368 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

sale was held on Monday, October 27th. The temerity which would risk a sale at 
such a time evinced great confidence in the property ; but the sale was a decided 
success. Over a hundred lots were sold at prices averaging $7 per foot, when the 
bidders were actually driven from the field by the cold and the heavy snow storm, 
through which the trains returned. Since the auction, 225 lots have been sold at 
prices averaging $8 per front foot, about one half of which has been paid in cash. 
The owners, finding that the purchasers intend immediate improvement, propose 
to continue sales at these low rates until one hundred acres shall have been sold to 
those who will erect buildings upon their lots. 

The railway facilities are good. Already fourteen trains each way connect Chi- 
cago with South Chicago, running upon the Michigan Southern and the Pittsburgh, 
Ft. Wayne & Chicago railroads, both of which cross this addition, and will estab- 
lish depots upon it. All other eastern roads that do not make a long detour must 
cross it. The Canada Southern and the Baltimore & Ohio are already located. 
The officers of the latter give assurances that it will be completed in the spring. 
With these three roads the passage will be made in about forty-five minutes from 
any part of Chicago, by the Ft. Wayne from the West Side, by the Michigan 
Southern from the vicinity of Clark street, and by the Baltimore & Ohio from 
Lake street and the avenues. 

Crossing these roads from north to south near the eastern line of the subdivision, 
the South Chicago & Southern railway is planned, to run from the mouth of the 
harbor south along the shore of Lake Michigan, thence crossing the railroads at 
right angles, and due south to the coal fields. 

The Calumet River & Dalton railroad (partly constructed), will follow the 
line of the river, connecting with the east and west roads at the points of intersec- 
tion, crossing the west end of the Iron-worker's addition, and forming a junction 
either with the Illinois Central or the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes, as shall 
be most advantageous. 

The Chicago Belt railroad, to be built across the Calumet river, along the south 
line of section 8, passing along the south line of this addition, forming a junction 
with the last named road at the crossing, and connecting with all the eastern roads 
at the crossing of the South Chicago & Southern. At this point a large portion 
of the grain transfers will undoubtedly be made. The proprietors of the Safety 
patent transfer cars, having procured ample grounds for that purpose, intend to 
demonstrate that cars can be taken from any western road, discharged into the east- 
ern cars, and returned to the proper road on the same day, at a cost of one dollar 
per car. The leading western roads are understood to have made arrangements 
with the patentees for that purpose. Thus the Iron-workers' addition will be imme- 
diately connected with every railroad entering Chicago. 

Indiana boulevard is a diagonal street running from State* street southeast, 
crossing every east and west street from Sixty-third, to One-hundred-and-sixth, and 
all the south avenues. Much of it is already finished into one of the most perfect 
drives in the country. Beyond the Iron-workers' addition it has this summer been 
constructed to Wolf river, in Indiana, where a swing bridge is contemplated, to be 
built early next spring, and the road continued for many miles into the country. 
Lake county is fully alive to its importance, and already plans for splendid graveled 
roads running into it from every part of the county are well advanced. 



SOUTH LAWN. OAKWOOD. 369 



SOUTH LAWN. 

This is one of the youngest of our suburbs, having been first subdivided and 
named this present year, by Messrs. Young and Rowley, who own a controlling in- 
terest in the plat. It embraces 960 acres, lying in sections 22 and 27, town 36, range 
14, and the firm, above named own 440 acres adjoining, making the whole area 1,400 
acres. It is situated on the south bank of the Calumet, seventeen miles from the 
Cook county Court-house and thirteen miles from the city's southern limits. The 
Company interested commenced (buying up the tract in 1870 and completed their 
purchases last summer, paying an average price of $ioo per acre. The lands for- 
merly belonged to non-residents, and to the Illinois Central railroad company, who 
secured their lands direct from the State. The present average value of the property 
is $300 per acre, making the whole interest worth about half a million dollars. The 
Illinois Central and the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes railroads traverse the 
tract in diagonal directions from the northwest and northeast corners, making a 
junction on the property, at which a neat depot is erected and near which side- 
tracks and transfer freight houses will be made necessary. All trains are compelled 
to stop at this depot. An arrangement is closed with the Illinois Central road to 
run two Hyde Park trains each day from that place through South Lawn to Home- 
wood, three and a half miles below, where the turn-table is located. Over the Dan- 
ville & Vincennes road, free passes to and from South Lawn for three years have 
been arranged for, to all persons making actual settlement. Coal from the Indiana 
fields over the Danville route, and lumber by the Calumet river — navigable to this 
place — can be obtained at a cheaper rate than from the city. These are important 
advantages in connection with the settlement of the place, which, from the facts 
above given, will assuredly be as rapid as at almost any other point. Messrs. Young 
and Rowley have expended over $15,000 in grading, tree planting, etc., and a still 
greater sum will be devoted to farther improvements to be made without delay. 
Over ten miles of streets have been graded and bordered on each side with trees, 
placed at short and regular distances apart. The grading has established a complete 
drainage throughout the entire subdivision, and made every foot of land within its 
area desirable for occupancy. The depot is a neat structure, with two rooms, and 
cost $1,000. 

The shores of the Calumet are at this point skirted by a grove of large, handsome 
trees, and the place is a popular resort for hunting and fishing parties. 



OAKWOOD 



Is a cemetery station, and shows but little improvement in the way of affording 
homes for the living. It is prettily located, and will probably come into the mar- 
ket for residence property within a short time. 
24 



370 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



RAVENSWOOD. 

Ravenswood, located on the line of the Milwaukee Division of the Northwestern 
railroad, has a history. Checkered fortunes have given the place an adventitious 
interest. The same means by which several of the suburbs of Chicago have been 
originally handled — by means of a land improvement company — first placed 
Ravenswood upon the market. The success of the effoils of the managers of the 
Company was so unforeseen, that long before it was anticipated, the greater number 
of lots in the place had passed out of the hands of the Company, and the suburb, 
deprived of the assistance in development which comes from organized effort, 
suffered a relapse, the evil results of which were yet still further increased by the oc- 
currence of the great Chicago fire. But the natural advantages offered by the suburb, 
its excellent location, its railroad facilities, and its unexceptionable natural means 
for complete drainage, etc., were sufficient to float it on the market without even 
the extra aid referred to. To-day, it is one of our most prosperous suburbs. 

The village was laid out in 1869. The plat consisted of 360 acres of land, sub- 
divided into lots 50 by 165 feet. The Ravenswood Land Company owned 200 acres 
of this. The first lot sold by the Company was on the 16th of June, 1869, for $400 ; 
and the last in October, the same year, for $2,500. 

In 1869, there was but one passenger who traversed the road to Chicago, 
regularly ; now it has reached the respectable figure of seventy-five. There are 
fourteen daily trains, the distance being traversed in twenty minutes. The fare is 
$7.20 per hundred rides. But apart from the railroad, the drive to the suburb 
thr®ugh Lincoln Park, and along the Lake Shore drive to Green Bay road, is very 
pleasant. 

Among the leading residents of Ravenswood are the following : Mr. Van Allen ? 
dealer in real estate, owns a handsome house and 900 feet of nicely laid out grounds, 
considered worth $26,000. The ornamentation of Mr. Van Allen's grounds is very 
artistic and effective. Captain John N. Hills, Justice of the Peace and dealer in real 
estate, has recently completed a very handsome residence worth from $12,000 to 
$15,000, in a beautiful grove at the corner of Leland avenue and Green Bay road. 
Mr. W. P. Jones, real estate dealer, has a fine house and handsomely improved 
grounds near the corner of Sunnyside and Commercial streets, considered worth about 
$20,000. T. Barrows & Son, of the Victor Sewing Machine Company, have each of 
them fine residences. Louis Semper, A. A. Clark, B, Sherman, R. M. Lee, C. W. 
Clarke, W. H. Bryant, John Fishleigh, Mrs. Howard, Rev. W. A. Lloyd, C. M. 
Bowen, W. H. Carpenter, all have excellent houses, and enjoy suburban life in 
admirable style. Many of these residences are provided with patent gas works, and 
the owners manufacture their own illuminating medium. 

The public improvements keep pace with the demands of the residents of the 
place. A substantial school house has recently been erected at a cost of $15,000; 
and the high school for the township of Lake View has recently been located at 
Ravenswood, the building of which will cost $20,000. It is to be completed for 
occupancy this winter. A handsome church has been built this year at the comer 



R0SEH1LL CEMETERY. 37 I 

of Commercial street and Jefferson road, in which non-sectarian services are held 
regularly every Sabbath. 

The public improvements which have been carried through, include the planting 
of a large number of shade trees, graveling streets, laying sewerage, and boring 
artesian wells. The village is under the local government of the Board oi Trustees 
of Lake View township, and is well represented. 

The sale of lots up to date show that rates from $20 to $30 per foot are obtain- 
able. These figures are under the true value of the property ; and the steady rise 
which is noted in all suburban values is sure to send the figures on Ravenswood 
property considerably above the rates now quoted. 

c 



ROSEHILL CEMETERY. 

This lonely spot, long dedicated to the dead, is located seven miles from the 
Court-house in the township of Lake View, and adjacent to the Milwaukee Division 
of the Northwestern Railroad (west of the track). The Company, who initiated 
measures and purchased the ground, was incorporated in February, 1859, with Dr. 
J. V. Z. Blaney as President. The first interment took place in July, 1859, since 
which time 7,700 have been buried within the gates of the cemetery. Four hun- 
dred of these were deceased soldiers ; and there have been 500 removals. 

About 60 acres were included within the original plat, and 166 acres have since 
been added, the last purchase of 80 acres having been consummated November nth, 
1873. The Company paid for this $1,000 per acre. The average price paid for the 
lands previously secured is $250 per acre. The average would have been less but that 
some of the tracts had been sold in lots, and a margin on first figureshad to be given. 
The grounds were originally located by a committee appointed by the Common 
Council of Chicago, of which Gov. Bross was ch airman, and the selection was made 
only after a thorough examination of all other localities about the city. At the time, 
it was considered by many too far from the city, but the great advances made since, 
have proved the wisdom of the choice, which was made on the following considera- 
tions: First, because the tract is higher by several feet than any other locality exam- 
ined ; second, because the facilities of access were better ; and, third, because the 
committee deemed it to be nearest the proper distance from the city. Rosehill is 
the largest cemetery about Chicago. The Company have, up to this date, expended 
fully $250,000 in lands and improvements. 

The beautiful entrance, shown in our illustration, cost, with the vault, $20,000. 
The walks are laid out most tastefully with beds of gravel on hard clay. 

As the lots vary in size from 8 x 10 to 200 feet square, it is of course impossible 
to give the exact capacity of the cemetery, but fully 25,000 average-sized lots are 
embraced within its area. 

Among the societies and organizations that have secured exclusive territory are 
the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Good Templars, Fireman's Benevolent Association, 
Chicago Typographical Union, the St. Andrew's and St. George's Societies, the 



372 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Chicago Board of Trade, and Batteries A and B, and Bridge's Battery of the Chicago- 
Light Artillery. 

All these lots are very handsomely improved. The Fireman's Benevolent Asso- 
ciation have erected, under contract made at low rates before the war, at a cost of 
$15,000, a beautiful monument, surmounted by the statue of a fireman in uniform. 
The pedestal is appropriately inscribed. 

The military monument, built at the joint expense of the county and the Board 




Entrance to Rosehill Cemetery. 



of Trade, is an elegant shaft, surmounted by the figure of a soldier in uniform, and 
ornamented with bas-reliefs representing diffei - ent arms of the service. This cost 
$11,000. 

The monuments erected by Batteries A and B, and by the Odd Fellows, are 
scarcely less worthy of special notice. 

H. O. Stone, Esq., has erected here the finest monument west of New York 
city. It is a design of a mother and child in a reclining position, executed in the 
finest material, by one of the Italian masters in Rome. We have not space for a 
detailed description. 

On the left of the entrance and near to the gate is the very handsome white 
marble shaft erected to the memory of Major General T. E. G. Ransom, by his 
friends, at a cost of $3,200. In its very simplicity lies its symmetry and beauty, and 



ROSEHILL CEMETERY. 



373 



its design is indicative of the solid sterling qualities void of ostentation which char- 
acterized this patriot and hero in whose honor it was erected. 

Among the most beautiful of the private monuments is that erected to the late 
P. F. W. Peck, at a cost of $15,000, and some very fine ones are to be noted, erected 
by H. M. Thompson, D. R. Holt, Hon. C. B. Fanvell, Hon. J. B. Rice, Gov. Bross. 



<s*£i 




Interior View of Rose Hill. 



John F. Stafford, Adam Smith, H. B. Hurd, Sam'l Myers, S. W. Rawson, John H, 
Kedzie, Col. Wm. S. Thompson, H. C. Goodrich, Seth Warren, and by the families 
of the late Isaac C. Day and C. R. Stockweather. Also a magnificent vault by 
Peter Schuttler. 

The cemetery stands, at present, almost alone — all the land about it being held 
out of market for further increase. 

Ten years ago these lands sold at $90 per acre. They are now held at from 
$1,000 to $1,600 per acre. 



374 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



ROGERS PARK. 

The subdivision having the above title takes its name from Phillip Rogers, a 
native of Ireland, who came to this country about 1838, settling on a quarter section 
of land which he purchased direct from the government, and called Rogers Ridge. 
This tract is a part of the subdivision now known as Rogers Park, and comprises 
about 600 acres of land located on the line of the Milwaukee division of the Chi- 




Residence of P. L. Touhy. 



cago & Northwestern railway, nine miles from the Cook county Court-house, five 
miles north of Lincoln Park, and three miles south of the Evanston depot on the lake 
shore. The lake shore drive is to run in front of the village. The land lies twenty- 
two feet above the lake, and is drained by covered tile sewers, put in at an expense 
of $7,000. The first settler, Mr. Rogers, at the time of his death in 1856, had 
accumulated, from the proceeds of converting trees into charcoal and vegetable 
gardening, about 1,600 acres of land lying in Rogers Park and Ravenswood. In 
1865, Patrick L. Touhy married into the family and assumed control of affairs. Phillip 
Rogers, a brother of Mrs. Touhy, died in 1869, bequeathing his interest in the large 



SOUTH EVANSTON. 375 

estates of the family to his mother and Mrs. Touhy, making Mr. Touhy's interest 
about 800 acres. He has sold 225 acres of this, and subdivided the remainder, and 
is selling it out in lots at from $15 to $20 per foot. On this interest Mr. Touhy has 
a homestead, his house costing $18,000, which we have illustrated in the accom- 
panying cut. A square tower gives a view from the windows in three directions, 
and from it is seen the greater portion of the lovely wood that surrounds the house, 
and covers an area of eighty acres running eastward to the lake. The illustration 
gives an idea of the grounds immediately about the residence, and shows their 
natural beauty better than a pen description can do. 

After building, he s5ld, to defray his outlays, a plat of 100 acres to S. P. Luntfor 
$80,000. Mrs. Lunt afterwards sold an equal interest to Messrs. H. B. Jackson, C. 
H. Morse, L. L. Greenleaf and John V. Farwell. These gentlemen organized under 
the name of the Rogers Park Land Company, and purchased another tract, making 
in all 225 acres. The whole interest was secured in the years 1871 and 1872, the prices 
paid being from $750 to $1,000 per acre. The station stands in the center of this 
tract. Several handsome dwellings, worth from $1,500 to $4,500 each, have been 
built and occupied. The houses in the suburb number at least fifty, the cheapest 
one costing $1,200, and the costliest one, Mr. Touhy's, $18,000. 

The streets are nearly all opened and graded, and provided with excellent drains. 
The depot stands just west of the second or east ridge, and all the blocks next east 
of it and extending from the north to the south limit, are held at $25 per front foot. 
The prices of the other lots run from $12 to $25 per foot. In 1855, the suburb was 
valued at $12 per acre ; so that the cheapest foot of land in the town now brings as 
much as an acre did at that period. 

Ten passenger trains pass each way every day, and five of these stop there. 
As the demand for them increases others will stop for passengers. The commuta- 
tion rates are ten cents each way. 

The inhabitants are to build a Methodist and a Roman Catholic church immedi- 
ately. Mr. Touhy contributes towards the latter $6,000 and 100 feet of ground, 
and to the former $500. ■■ 



SOUTH EVANSTON. 

The reader will doubtless have concluded, from the perusal of the preceding 
pages, that Evanston has already grown sufficiently old and strong to have become 
the parent of other villages — her suburbs. Such, originally, was South Evanston, 
immediately adjoining the parent village in the direction indicated by its designa- 
tion. South Evanston has, within the past two seasons, however, acquired inde- 
pendent attractions, as well as an independent municipal organization of her own, 
which entitle her to distinguished consideration as a place of residence, without 
regard to the manifold advantages derived from her proximity and partial identifica- 
tion with the sober and erudite borough among the oaks. 

South Evanston occupies about one thousand acres of territory, nearly all subdi- 
vided, mostly in section 19 of the township of Evanston, and extending a mile and 
a half from the lake to the western line of the village, and one mile from the north- 



376 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

ern to the southern boundary. The first subdivision known as South Evanston was 
made about four years ago, by Gen. Julius White, who subdivided a tract of eighty 
acres adjoining Evanston, and east of the Northwestern railroad. Afterwards, Mr. 
Merrill Ladd, Mr. O. F. Gibbs, and other citizens of Evanston, operated somewhat 
in South Evanston lands. West of the railroad track, Judge Adams and Mr. L. C. 
Pitner made subdivisions, the most of which have been sold out at $15 to $25 per 
front foot. 

It was in September, 1871, that Messrs. Warren, Keeney & Co., the present most 
active representatives of this property, commenced that series of energetic and well 
directed operations which have contributed more than anything else to give the place 
its present enviable status. They, with Mr. Kedzie, of Evanston, bought thirty-five 
acres of John Klein, and twenty of Jacob Rinn, east of the railroad, and south of 
Gen. White's property, paying therefor $1,350 per acre. This tract they named 
Kedzie and Keeney's addition, and graded and fenced it. 

Then came the great fire. After this episode, the demand for primeval farms for 
subdivisions was not quite so brisk as it had been, and holders of that class of prop- 
erty were therefore less firm. Hence, in the February following, the same parties 
(tuimis Kedzie) were able to purchase of Mr. Rinn another sixty acres, taking 
in his son as a partner, at 33^ per cent, less than the beforementioncd price, which 
was still a handsome advance upon the $5 per acre paid for it by the senior Rinn. 
In the May following, Messrs. W., K. & Co. purchased the Arnold property — a 
beautiful tract of thirty-seven acres and a fraction, lying along the lake shore, which 
is here high and heavily timbered, affording a great^many chaiming villa sites. The 
price paid for this was $1,350 per acre. 

That spring (1872) the campaign was opened with vigor, the policy of the opera- 
tors being to insure at once a high class of improvements, both public and private. 
To this end, sewers to the lake were laid under the principal east and west avenues, 
and over twenty houses, none worth less than $2,500, were built, the most of them 
by the managers of the subdivision. During the season, seme $150,000 worth of 
lands and houses were sold — the lands at $20 to $30 per front foot. (It should be 
mentioned that all the streets are eighty feet wide, and all the lots one hundred and 
seventy feet deep, besides the allowance for alleys.) 

The operations of the season of 1873 have been still more brilliant, the twenty 
houses built by the proprietors having been of a class vastly superior to the aver- 
age of respectable suburban dwellings ; ranging, in fact, frcm $3,coo to $i2,cco in 
cost, and averaging not less than $5,000 each. 

The expenditures of the Company for the season's improvements aggregate over 
$ioojdoo, and sales have aggregated nearly $200, coo. Under the influence of the 
high class of improvements already achieved, and the other advantages offered by 
South Evanston, the lots have sold readily at $35 per front foot, even at the parts of 
the village more remote from the depot ; while land on Chicago avenue, near the 
railway, commands $50 per foot ; and those on Ridge street, West of the railroad, 
sell at $40 and upward. Prices, however, will not stop over winter at any such fig- 
ures. They are by no means up to the standard in Evanston proper, which has no 
such stylish streets, both for residence and lor driving, as South Evanston already 
affords, and which is, moreover, a mile farther from the city than the south village. 
Schools, local stores and churches tell, of course, in favor of the parent village at 




SOUTH EVANSTON. 377 

present ; but all these are so readily accessible from South Evanston, which at the 
same time boasts so many advantages peculiar to itself, that its building lots will 
always be greatly in demand by the more wealthy and fastidious of the old Evans- 
tonians. 

The population of South Evanston is 1,300, number of houses 250. It has a 
Methodist church, west of the depot, which cost $io,cco, while a school-house, to 
cost $12,000, is in process of construction from plans by Mr. Edbrooke, near by. 
Gas from the Evanston works is already in several of the houses of South Evanston. 
Whenever Evanston shall have a system of water works, (which will be next year, 
the preliminary steps having been already taken,) South Evanston will be supplied 
from the same mains. The proposed horse railway through Evanston, north and 
south, is also to extend throu gh South Evanston. The frame depot already built 
for the Northwestern railway (an impecunious corporation which cannot afford to 
build its own depots) is being replaced by a brick one, with a capacious side track 
also donated to the Company by private enterprise. The rates of fare by this route 
to the city are fourteen cents per ride by the hundred rides, or $66 per year ; and 
there are a dozen or more trains per day, at convenient hours, which may be taken 
at this depot. 

South Evanston is on the line of the contemplated Lake Shore drive, which 
already reaches within four miles of it, and which will be speedily finished along 
the front of the Arnold tract. 

The reader is prepared to hear that an exceptionally intelligent class of popu- 
lation has appropriated to itself the advantages of the place as fast as they have 
been developed. Among the freeholders and citizens of South Evanston are the 
following gentlemen : Gen. Julius White, U. S. Minister to Buenas Ayres ; Hon. J. 
B. Adams ; Elijah Warren, Esq. ; C. Shackelford, Esq., formerly of the Chicago 
School Board; Mr. Charles Randolph, Secretary of the Chicago Board of Trade; 
Major Rufus Cheney ; Mr. J. T. Baker ; Mr. Jas. F. Keeney ; Mr. A. E. Warren ; 
Mr. Arthur Truesdell ; Mr. W. M. R. Vose ; Mr. Timothy Dwight ; Mr. Jacob 
Rinn ; Mr. Isaac Seelye ; Mr. J. C. Ambrose ; Judge Ide ; Mr. E. Allen Downs ; 
Mr. D. F. Keeney; Mr. Bramer, of Hart, Bramer & Co.; Rev. Prof. Noyes, Pastor of 
the First Presbyterian Church, Evanston ; Mr. J. R. Darke ; Mr. M. D. Knowlton ; 
Mr. Burt, of Gray Bros., wholesale grocers ; Mr. S. Harbert ; Mr. Adams, head of 
the publishing firm of Adams, Blackmar & Lyons ; Mr. S. Goodenow ; and many 
others. The residence of Gen. White, on Judson avenue, is worth, with its grounds, 
$20,000 ; that of Mr. Adams, on Washington avenue, $8,000 ; that of the Rev. Mr. 
Noyes, corner of Judson and Greenleaf avenues, occupies a lot 100 by 190 feet, and 
is worth $10,000; that of A. L. Winne, corner of Hinman and Greenleaf, same 
dimensions, $12,000 ; that of Charles Randolph, a new house just south of the 
above, same dimensions, $12,000 ; that of Mark D. Knowlton, on Hinman avenue, 
same dimensions, $10,000 ; that Of Mr. Elijah Warren, on Chicago avenue, $15,000 ; 
that of Mr. S. Goodenow, on Ridge street, occupying ornamental grounds, 300 by 600 
feet, is worth, with them, $45,000 ; that of Albert E. Warren, on Hinman avenue, 
100 by 173, is worth $10,000 ; that of J. F. Keeney, on Wheeler avenue, 200 by 173, 
$13,000 ; and so on. 



378 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



EVANSTON. 

Some twelve miles northward from the city of Chicago, beautifully located on 
the lake shore, stands important, intellectual, ambitious, wealthy Evanston. The 
most considerable in size and population of any of the suburbs that surround the 
city, Evanston, by reason of the enterprise of its inhabitants, and the eligibility of 
its location, seems determined to maintain in the future the proud position which 
it has secured in the past. 

The old fogyish idea that a residence in a suburb or in the country must per- 
force be unprovided with all the comforts of a city home, has long since exploded, 
and the Evanstonian holder of real estate inclines to the belief that if a man seek- 
ing relief from the pressure and din of a large city, is offered in its own case the 
quiet comfort of a town of 4,000 people, that it will be more acceptable than if 
there were but 400 people in the place, all told. They are undoubtedly right. It 
is owing to the influence of the same law that large bodies are continually absorb- 
ing small ones ; and so on, ad infinitum. 

Some years since in the long ago of Chicago suburban history, Dr. Evans, a 
respectable gentleman of the city of Chicago, buiided himself a residence on the 
lake shore, and there spent the summer months. The residence is still standing 
to-day, the property of Dr. Evans, who, since the days when he located himself, the 
first white settler on the ridge which contributes so much to the beauty of Evans- 
ton, has graduated into high office, ruling the destinies of Colorado in the rdle of 
Governor for some years. Sometime after the doctor had settled in the woods, a 
few gentlemen connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, being prompted 
thereto by their wish to promote the cause of knowledge, both spiritual and worldly, 
organized a university corporation. 

Even in the early days of 1838 the future of Chicago seemed big with promise, 
and the new Company did not hesitate to invest so large a sum as $25,000 — in 
those days a considerable land investment — in the purchase of 400 acres of land 
lying about ten miles above the city. A name was wanted for the place, and Dr. 
Evans was respected. Following time-honored custom, the managers decided to 
call the place Evanston, and no change has been made up to the present day. 
Since that time the name of Evanston has become familiar throughout the whole 
country. Its seats of learning have supplied illustrations for the leading pictorial 
papers, and their classes have sent forth talented, able, consciencious teachers to till 
the earth's intellectual fields in all directions. The Northwestern University, which 
was the final outcome of the efforts of the gentlemen referred to, ranks among the 
highest of the educational establishments of the country, and in the success which 
has attended it throughout its career, and promises to reward the future efforts of 
its managers, it will come honorably out of a comparison with any of the older and 
more renowned eastern institutions. 

The location of the University is on a beautiful tract, lying east from the depot, 
and near the lake shore. The main building is constructed of Athens marble, is 
of elegant proportions, and unique character. Containing no dormitories, the 
whole building is devoted to the use of the college. In its immediate neighbor- 



EVANSTON. 379 

hood stands the old University building, of wood, and four stories in height. The 
trustees have determined to use the old building as a preparatory school, for which 
it is excellently adapted. A splendid library, excellent arrangement, careful tui- 
tion, fine grounds, and pleasant views, render the University a most desirable 
place for the education of the young. It is now under the presidency of Re v. Dr. 
Charles H. Fowler, whose originality and acknowledged ability promise to make 
him as famous as chief of the Northwestern University as any of the old ma sters of 
Rugby or Eton, Harvard or Yale. The new University building cost $120,000, 
and the old one, which is three stories high, cost $10,000. In the first mentioned 
edifice there are fifty rooms, including a chapel, laboratory, library, museum and 
lecture rooms, with professor's private rooms adjoining. 

The present annual income is $18,000. The Board of Trustees was organized 
on June 14, 185 1, and at a meeting held June 23, 1853, Rev. Dr. Clark T. Hinman 
was elected President ; Rev. Abel Stevens, Professor of Rhetoric ; Henry S. 
Noyes, A. M., Professor of Mathematics ; and the Rev. W. D. Godman, Professor 
of Greek. The present faculty consists of Henry S. Noyes, A. M., Professor of 
Mathematics ; Daniel Bonbright, A. M., Professor of Latin ; Oliver Marcy, A. M., 
Professor of Natural History ; Louis Kistler, A. M., Professor of Greek ; David H. 
Wheeler, D. D., Professor of English Literature ; Henry M. Bannister, Ph. B., 
Curator of the Museum ; Robert M. Cumnock, A. B., Instructor in Elocution ; 
John W. Ravel, A. B., Assistant in Mathematics ; Louis A. Kistler, Librarian. 

The trustees of the University still hold property valued at over $700,000 ; and 
firmly believe that before 1880 the lands will have quadrupled in value. 

But the town, of Evanston is not content in the possession of one seat of learning. 
It boasts of several, all of which are first-class. Beside the school system, supported 
by the town, which is managed on a very liberal scale, there are located in the town 
the theological school known as the Garrett Biblical Institute, the Women's College, 
which is the old Northwestern Female College, converted into a branch of the Uni- 
versity, etc. Of these special institutions, the first named is the most important, 
Its building, known as Heck Hall, — so named in commemoration of Mrs. Barbara 
Heck, the mother of Methodism in America — is an imposing structure, although 
less ornate than that of its immediate neighbor, the University. The edifice is built 
of Milwaukee brick, is six stories in height, and contains seventy-seven rooms, well 
furnished. It was erected in 1866 as a centenary memorial edifice of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and publicly dedicated the 4th of July, 1867. Its entire cost is 
$62,000 — building, $52,000 ; furniture, $10,000. The centenary offerings received 
to defray this expense amount to $50,000, donated by forty-seven annual conferences. 
The Faculty consists of Rev. Daniel P. Kidder, D. D. ; Rev. Henry Bannister, D. D. ; 
Rev. Minor Raymond, D. D. ; Rev. Francis D. Hemenway, A. M. ; and Prof. James 
S. Jewell, M. D. The first building of the Biblical Institute, erected in 1856, costing 
$15,000, is now used as a boarding hall for students. During the time, 267 students 
have enrolled, 58 have graduated, 100 have entered annual conferences, and 6 have 
gone on foreign missions. Three years complete the course of study, the junior year 
consisting of studies biblical, doctrinal and homiletical ; the middle year, exegetical, 
doctrinal, ecclesiastical and homiletical ; and senior year, homiletical, pastoral and 
doctrinal. The library of Heck Hall contains about 3,000 volumes. The reading 
room, connected with the library, contains standard literary and theological reviews 
and newspapers of proper character. 



3 8o 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Governed by its own Board of Trustees, it has a separate faculty, and stands on a 
veiy solid and substantial financial loundation. Principally from the property be- 
queathed to it by the late Mrs. Garrett, aided by other noble contributions, the en- 
dowment of the institute now amounts to about $300,000. A laudable effort has 
been made by the faculty of the college to bring up its students to a high standard ; 
and success has very generally attended their efforts. The alumni of the Garrett 
Biblical Institute are known throughout the wide woidd, and in the role of ministers 
or missionaries are doing noble work. 




Residence of Charles E. Browne, Esq. 



This handsome residence is located on one of the most commanding sites in the 
village of Evanston. It is situated on what is known as " the ridge " — a strip of 
high land — overlooking the village, and also commanding a fine view of North 
Evanston at the north, and the prairie, at the west. As will be observed, the arch- 
itecture embraces, principally, the renaissance villa style, and the main features are 
characteristic of the prevailing style of the sixteenth century. The combination y» 
novel and pleasing, and attracts much attention. The interior is well finished, and 
furnished with all modern appliances, and as it is conveniently arranged throughout, 
is a very desirable residence. Its cost was about $20,000. The lot is large and 
well located, and susceptible of high ornamentation. 

A beautiful building, costing $50,000, has just, been completed for the Evanston 



EVANSTON. 381 

Women's College for Ladies. The president is Miss Frances Willard, a most es- 
timable lady and a preceptress of acknowledged ability. 

Evanston proper is a rapidly growing, respectable, sober, prosperous place. It 
is flanked both on the north and sovith by additions, known respectively as North 
and South Evanston ; but the determined efforts on the part of the promoters of 
both Evanstonian suburbs has not yet been able to wrest the supremacy away from 
the mother locality. 

Evanston differs from many suburbs — notably lake -shore suburbs — in respect 
to the manner in which it is laid out. Its streets run at right angles, and show no 
suspicion of a curve either to the right or left. In keeping with the sober character 
of the men who went into the speculation away back in 1838, the curved lines which 
form the distinguishing traits of some suburbs met with no approval. Evanston 
bears the stamp of its dovoutly-inclined founders. Its garb is cut as squarely as 
though it were of " the cloth," and its morals are as strict as those of a New England 
village. By a wise calculation, the founders of the University inserted a provision in 
its charter providing that for a distance of four miles. from the University building 
it should not be lawful to sell liquor of an intoxicating kind. The residents of 
Evanston are, therefore, compulsory teetotalers, so far as public drinking is con- 
cerned. The fact is to be commended — the law is strictly enforced, and apparently 
willingly obeyed. 

In 1871, the town became incorporated, and is now ruled by a Board of Trustees, 
the public schools being under the care of a Board of Education, both bodies being 
elective. The present mayor is Mr. C. J. Gilbert, a grain merchant, who is now 
filling his second term of office. The members of the board have proved themselves 
an enterprising, trustworthy body, and the interests of the town are not likely to 
suffer in their hands. Mr. S. K. Bannister fills the position of Clerk of the Board. 

The chief public work which is being pushed this year is the water- works, for 
which, out of the levy of $go,ooo for taxes, $70,000 is to be devoted. The town 
voted in favor of the erection of Holly works, to cost about $120,000. . They include 
a crib out in the lake, and connecting pipes all over the town. 

There is some considerable feeling amongst portions of the town's population on 
the question of the exemption from taxation of the University buildings and lands. 
These'comprise about one tenth part of the entire valuation, and yet contribute 
nothing to the support of the town government, from which they derive all the ben- 
efit that others who pay receive. The question of their exemption will probably 
soon be decided. On the instance of Mr. James Root, County Attorney, the property 
was assessed this year. Legal measures are, if necessary, to be resorted to, to en- 
force the assessment. 

The valuation of real estate is about $1,200,000, and, thanks to constant im- 
provement, it shows a decided advance yearly. With the construction of the pro- 
jected street railway, the figures will be still further advanced. There have been 
about a hundred houses erected during the season, and half a dozen brick stores. 
The market value of real estate in the central part of the town is from $40 to $100 
per foot ; business property is valued at from $75 to $150 per foot front. On Davis 
street, where the principal stores are located, $200 per front foot is asked. A trade 
at $140 per foot was made a few days since. For the last five years, the advance 
on some classes of property has been from 30 to 50 per cent, per annum ; on others, 



382 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

prices have about doubled in five years. The advance in South Evanston property 
has been within the last few months more rapid than in the town proper, but the 
figures commanded by Evanston property can never be touched by that located in 
the adjoining suburbs. Evanston is pretty evenly divided by the line of the Chicago 
and Northwestern railroad. The line runs along the level about equi-distant from 
the east and west ridges. These ridges constitute the most acceptable part of the 
real estate. They are very picturesque, and are covered with many elegant resi- 
dences. The value of land in their neighborhood is from $75 to $150 per foot, and 
but little of it to be had. There is a wholesome rivalry existing between the resi- 
dents on the two ridges — they vieing with each other in the competition as to 
which shall own the prettiest places. The east side of the town was the first 
settled, but the population on the west side is now quite equal to that on the other 
side. When the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad shall put in a branch 
to the town, and the belt railroad shall come to its boundaries, the real estate owners 
on the west side look for a day of harvest that shall surpass the most sanguine ex- 
pectations. On the other hand, the east side people are looking earnestly for the 
completion of the lake shore drive from the cit3', which shall be, when finished, one 
of the handsomest carnage ways to be found in the world. A large number of 
workmen are employed in the town, and the receipts of lumber are very heavy. 
The population of the place is increasing rapidly, and while the real estate business 
during the past summer has not been so lively as in previous years in the history of 
Evanston, sales have been made at advanced prices, and the erection of dwellings 
has proceeded without a break. 

The population of Evanston includes many well-known Chicago merchants, and 
bears the reputation of being of the best character generally. The air of intense 
respectability which clothes the average Evanstonian is relieved by his devotion to 
music, to literary evenings, to the work of the gospel. The people are most homo- 
genous, and scarcely an evening passes but is celebrated by some gathering at which 
the feast of reason and the flow of soul proceed uninterruptedly along. The lovely 
undulations of the country afford many excellent sites for handsome dwellings. They 
have been utilized so well that Evanston is well provided with charming dwellings, 
showing a cultivated taste on the part of their builders, and a capacity for enjoyment 
of the esthetic and beautiful on the part of their owners and occupants. 

Among the gentlemen who own pretty places in the town are the following, 
most of whose names are familiar as household words in the Chicago business circles : 
Hon. H. B. Hurd, Hon. J. D. Easter, Mr. Andrew Sherman, Mr. Edwin Lee Brown, 
Dr. S. N. Davis, Mr. L. L. Greenleaf, Mr. A. J. Brown, Mr. E. Hoskin, Rev. Dr. 
Raymond, Mr. Hugh White, Mr. E. R. Paul, Mr. Charles Comstock, Mr. Isaac R. 
Hitt, Mr. C. J. Gilbert, Mr. E. W. Blatchford, Mr. R. E. Lee, Mr. W. N. Brainard, 
Mr. J. M. Williams, Mr. Charles Grey, Mr. S. P. Lunt, Dr. H. Bannister, Mr. Joseph 
Lyon. Evanston also includes among her residents Gen. J. L. Beveridge, governor 
of the state ; Gen. Arthur Ducat, Col. Gamble, Bishop Thompson, Professor Masey 
and Professor Noyes, 

The residences of all these gentlemen are elegant in the extreme, and particular 
mention would be invidious. They show an enlightened taste and a ready purse — 
two most excellent things. 



NORTH EVANSTON. 383 



NORTH EVANSTON. 

The passenger depot of this rapidly growing and highly popular suburban vil- 
lage is located just one mile directly north of Evanston, on the line of the Chicago 
& Northwestern railroad. The place has been subdivided into small residence lots, 
which have been purchased, during the past season, by enterprising, energetic go- 
ahead people. By dint of these characteristics on the part of the citizens, North 
Evanston now boasts several lousiness houses, schools, churches, etc., besides 
scores of elegant residences, all of which combine, in conjunction with the already 
improved condition of the spacious and nicely graded thoroughfares, shaded with 
large trees, in forming what may be truthfully termed an inviting suburb. 

The original owners and promoters of the village were Messrs. C. E. Browne 
and C. L. Jenks, and Dr. Kidder. These gentlemen owned large acre tracts, which 
were subsequently sold out, in tact, or subdivided and disposed of in small parcels. 
The heaviest buyers of acre property were Mr, John Culver, who selected ground 
lying west of the depot, some of which is covered with handsome forest trees ; 
Messrs. Commons & Best, who purchased a little south of the land of Mr. Culver ; 
and Messrs. Samuel Polkey, W. P. Thayer, and others. The majority of these sev- 
eral transfers were consummated during the year 1873. Each of the owners have 
largely contributed toward improving the property, by first subdividing, and then 
grading streets, laying sidewalks, planting trees, building houses, etc. The original 
price of the property, by the acre, was $65, but it now readily sells at from $10 to 
$40 per foot. As an indication of the rapid increase in value at this place, we here 
insert an advertisement, taken from a Chicago paper, published six years ago, show- 
ing the exact figures at which property could then be purchased : 

"I will sell a few acre lots, a little north of the Biblical Institute, for $200 per acre, and 
an 80-acre lot of choice fertile prairie, one mile from the village, at $75 per acre."j 

At the time this was published the opinion was not unfreqnently entertained 
that " prices were inflated," and that the " bubble would burst," etc. This offer was 
made by Mr. C. E. Browne, above alluded to. It shows that what was then obtain- 
able at $75 per acre, now commands $6,000 and $7,000 per acre. In fact he has 
actually sold one lot at the rate of $8,000 per acre. 

Since the above acre purchases were made, scores of other less extensive trans- 
fers have been effected to different parties. Messrs. Geo. Bartalott and A. T. Ewing 
purchased twenty-seven acres, which will be improved. Other sales of minor im- 
portance have been made at different times, so that nearly all the North Evanston 
property now on the market is in small acre tracts of less than fifty acres each. In 
order to show up the extent of the real estate business of North Evanston, and its 
ultimate success, we will cite one or two instances : Mr. John Culver has sold up- 
ward of $72,000 worth of his property, which is in part owing to the desirability of 
the land, and the splendid inducements offered to the bona fide settler ; Messrs. 
Commons & Best soldall of their first purchased tract, and immedately purchased 






384 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

another tract adjacent. Of this they have sold a large portion, and already many 
fine dwellings are erected on either plat. At an auction held by them late in the 
summer, the prices realized were far in advance of the original price ; and buyers 
were so eager to obtain lots at the ruling auction rate — which averaged $10 per 
foot — that, after selling about $20,000 worth, withdrew the balance, thinking it 
was worth much more. 

Among the handsomest residences, that of Mrs. Valentine is perhaps the most 
worthy of note. It is a modern-built brick house, well fitted and furnished through- 
out, and occupies the center of a large lot, variously ornamented with shrubs, trees, 
etc. Mr. John Culver resides in a fine residence, and Dr. O. L. Jenks has an 
equally desirable home. Of the residents occupying houses of the better class, we 
notice those of Rev. Dr. Kidder, B. F. Stanley, Samuel Polkey, William Jenks, H. C. 
Fulton, W. Blackburn, S. W. Bremer, and others. With the coming of next spring, a 
heavy increase in building operations is confidently anticipated. 

Some of the finest streets in North Evanston are Park avenue, laid out by Mr. 
Culver, 150 feet wide; Lincoln avenue, running through the property of C. E. 
Browne, D. P. Kidder, and S. Polkey, is 100 feet wide ; Forest avenue, 100 feet 
wide, runs through the property of C. L. Jenks ; Evanston avenue is 100 feet wide, 
and is being rapidly built up. A number of streets are projected, running through 
the entire length of the suburb, and connecting with the main streets of Evanston, 
the result of which, by giving easier access, will be to hasten the manifest destiny 
of the place, which is to become a part and parcel of its prosperous southern 
neighbor. They will also afford means of access to the Lake Shore drive, when it 
is completed, as proposed, to the town of Evanston. 



WILMETTE. 385 



WILMETTE. 

The origin of Wilmette dates from a treaty made in July, 1829, between the 
United States Government and a band of Indians at Praiiie du Chien, by which 
1280 acres of land lying on the shore of Lake Michigan, fourteen miles north of 
Chicago, was ceded to the use of a half-breed squaw, of the Pottawatamie tribe, and 
her eight children. The place takes its name from her French husband, Anton 
Ouilmette, who resided with his family in a log cabin, which he built on the tract, 
for twenty years, when the feet of the advancing white man strolled over its con- 
fines and the land was transferred to his dominion. The first of the pale faces who 
settled upon it was a young Scotchman named Alexander McDaniels, who came 
upon the land in 1836, and has remained upon it ever since. He amassed a large 
estate by habits of sobriety and industry. Mr. McDaniels has been, and is, one of 
the most prominent contributors to the success of this now largely settled suburb, 
giving liberally to public enterprises and selling out his lands at prices attractive to 
the settler. 

In the years 1838-9, the Ouilmette family sold a part of their lands and re- 
moved to the east shore of the Missouri, settling at Council Bluffs, A part of the 
family returned in 1843-4 and sold their remaining interest, under approval of the 
government. After several subsequent transfers the land fell to the possession of 
the present proprietors, and the village, then called Grosspoint, was named Wil- 
mette. The spelling was altered to indicate the correct pronunciation of the word. 
In the year 1861, Mr. H. A. Dingee purchased the last of the Ouilmette property, 
270 acres, paying $4,000 for it. Until the suburban movement was fairly begun in 
1868, little else of note transpired relating to this particular estate. At that time 
the rush of population to the city caused increased demands, and consequently 
higher prices for rents, and the railway companies began making commutation 
rates to the suburbs, putting on extra trains, etc., which has had the effect of induc- 
ing a large number of our citizens to seek homes within their boundaries where 
they could enjoy the freedom of the country, its pure and healthy airs, romantic 
sites, and enticing woodlands and streams, and at the same time pursue their active 
business life in the city. Wilmette naturally attracted marked attention from the 
beginning. Its rolling surface covered with forest groves, its excellent soil, and 
other natural advantages, besides its nearness — only two miles — to the prosperous 
town of Evanston, and consequent easy access to the excellent institutions of learn- 
ing, handsome churches and common schools, moved a number of our well-to-do 
citizens to fix upon it as their country seat. The owners of the property yielded to 
the pressure and founded a village. Messrs. Alex. McDaniels, H. A. Dingee. Hy, 
W. Blodgett, Simeon V. Kline, J. G, Westfall and others, began, in 1869, to lay out 
streets and build houses, which they offered at tempting rates and on easy terms to 
actual settlers. A depot and platform was built in that year under agreement with 
the Chicago & Milwaukee railway company to stop a train each day. 

The sales of land in that year were made at the rate of $150 per acre. In 1870, 
at $200 per acre. In the following year the mode of transfer was changed from 
25 



3 86 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



acres to lots and blocks, which brought from $2 to $3 per front foot. The present 
values range from $10 to $15 per" foot. The village was incorporated under the 
general law of 1872, and the following gentlemen elected trustees : A. McDaniels, 
A. T. Sherman, Amos Shantz, C. T. Boggs, B. M. Munn and J. G. Westfield. 



••-' 




Union Church. 

A. Vail was made Village Clerk, Norman Hall, Treasurer, and M. A. Gedney, 
Street Commissioner. The corporate limits of Wilmette include, besides the north- 
ern section of the Ouilmette estate, a part of sections 27, 28 and 33, in town 42, 
range 13. The land has an elevation of thirty-two feet above the lake, and the 
streets are beautifully shaded by forest trees. There are now about sixty comforta- 
ble houses on the tract, many of them being the elegant homes of Chicago business 



WILMETTE, 



387 



men. The village is included within the four-mile radius of the Northwestern Uni- 
versity at Evanston, within the bounds of which liquor is by law prohibited to be 
sold. The public necessities are supplied by a large school-house, used for a time 
for both school purposes and as a house of worship. A neat Union church, illus- 
trated with this chapter, has been erected this summer at a cost of $7,000. Its 
pulpit is supplied every Sunday morning by members of the faculty of the Uni- 




Residence of Asahel Gage, Esq. 



versity. The building is above the average suburban edifice both in cost and archi- 
tectural merit. 

In business places, Wilmette is sufficiently supplied for its present population. 
A post-office has been in operation for two years. A grocery, meat market, furni- 
ture store, two shoe stores, a tin shop, and a broom factory are already in operation. 
Twelve miles of streets are graded and 20,000 feet of sidewalk laid. This last 
feature adds greatly to the comfort of villagers. Among the prominent gentlemen 
who are residents at Wilmette are the following: A. McDaniels, J. G. Westfield, 
Jas. L. Stewart, Chas. P. Westfield, Samuel Dingee, A. T. Sherman, T. B. Morris, 
Samuel Mitchell, Rev. M. C. Springer, J. J. Russell, B. M. Munn, Chas. A. Vail, 
R. S. M. Bennett, Asahel Gage, real estate dealer, J. W. Finney, of the firm oi 
Finney & Springer, real estate, Moses Gleddan, W. H. Kinney, R. W. Chappell. 



3 88 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



B. Jennings, A, Shantz, Rev. C. Dorsett, N. Smith, S, H, Doe, J. C, Griffiths, and 
L. Hibbard, of Hibbard & Vaughan, proprietorsof Wilmette nursery. This nursery 
embraces thirty-five acres of land devoted to the culture of shade trees and shrub- 
bery. The soil is a mixture of sand, gravel and clay, and is therefore especially 
adapted to the cultivation of trees and fruit growing. 

The most prominent residences are owned and occupied by Messrs. McDaniels, 
Asahel Gage, Stewart, Sherman and West field, The structures cost from $4,000 to 




Residence of Alexander McDaniels, Esq. 



$10,000 each. Two of these residences, and the excellent hotel, being erected, we 
deem worthy of illustration. 

The residence of Asahel Gage, Esq., the reader will at once admire for beauty 
and originality of design. The house is very large, and all its apartments are spa- 
cious and arranged in strict conformity to the most approved modern requirements. 
The grand parlors, library, sitting rooms below, and sleeping rooms above. The bay 
windows, front r.nd rear verandas, and the symmetrical tower, through which is the 
main entrance, as its saliant outside features ; the splendid grounds, adorned by 
nature and art which surround it, all contribute to the general desirableness of this 
delightful home. Mr. Gage expended $10,000 on the house, and a large amount on 
the grounds, and has secured a villa which would suit any one who is reasonably 
easy to please. 

The residence of Alexander McDaniels, Esq., is a neat Gothic structure planned 



WILMETTE. 



3*9 



with a view of cozy comfort, which, from the picture, appears to have been success- 
fully carried out. The trees and shrubbery about it are thrifty and handsome, while 
in the rear is a very inviting grove. The dwelling and out-houses correspond, and 
about the whole site there are evidences of good taste and ample means. The im- 
provements are worth $8,000. 




Wilmette Hotel. 



The plan of the Willmette hotel, to be erected in the spring, is faithfully repre- 
sented in our illustration. It may seem to the reader that the building is larger 
than the necessities of a new suburb demands, and this is true as far as present 
needs are concerned, but, the past activity of transfers, rapidity of building im- 
provements, and fine natural location of the village, have convinced the proprietors 
that all its rooms will be in demand as soon as completed, for transient boarders and 
as a family hostelry. Many prefer boarding to building, and are willing to pay any 
reasonable rate for superior accommodations. That the facilities of the house will 
be of a first-class character throughout is a matter beyond question. It will be one 
of the best hotels in the vicinity of the city, and the enterprise will doubtless repay 
the $20,000 investment already pledged for its construction. It is just such liberal 



39° 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



ventures as this which inspire confidence in the place, and there will doubtless be no 
difficulty in making a success of the undertaking. The structure will be of wood, 
three stories and basement with Mansard roof. The grounds will correspond with 
the house, and will require a large additional expenditure. 

The principal owners of the village tract, at present, are Messrs. McDaniels, 
Gage, Dingee and C. D. Paul & Co. The last named firm — formerly Greenleaf & 
Paul — purchased fifty-six acres from Mr. Dingee, in the spring of 1872, for $500 
per acre, and shortly afterwards another tract of fifty-six acres at $700 per acre. 
Of these tracts they have sold thirty lots at from $7 to $9 per front foot. This firm 
donated the land on which the church stands. They have, within a year past, 
expended a large amount in clearing up the land, and, last summer, they erected six 
ho uses on their interest. Mr. J. G. Westfield, whose house stands on the site of the 
old Ouilmette cabin, keeps a real estate office in the place and does a prosperous 
business. Mr. Asahel Gage owns 130 acres on the lake shore near the village 
which he intends to subdivide at an early day. He has already expended $10,000 
in improvements. Mr. McDaniels has about 100 acres in lots for sale. Mr. Dingee, 
the largest owner, has expended the princely sum of $90,000 in building and other 
improvements, and has made sales to the amount of $100,000. Mr. Westfield is Mr. 
Dingee's agent. Messrs. Finney & Springer own a few choice blocks in the place, 
and are agents, also, for other parties. 

The railway facilities are better than the average. Six trains stop each day, 
and the commutation rates are only $17 per ico rides, or $75 per year. A $2,500 
brick depot will be erected next year. 

H. Palmer, Esq., has recently sold an undivided one-half moiety of his 16-acre 
tract to Hon. D. W. Munn and Benjamin M. Munn, and the whole has already 
been subdivided and platted into lots, 50x162 each, and the alleys, streets and ave- 
nues are being graded. A living spring of pure water, immediately adjoining the 
property, is to be made available for useful and ornamental purposes. The owners 
contemplate building in the early summer three hanckome houses for their own res- 
idences. Being only two blocks from the railroad depot, which is reached by means 
of a good, substantial plank sidewalk, and fronting, as do all the lots, upon two of 
the principal avenues, one of which is eighty feet wide, no dcubt this tv.L division, 
with its natural grove of forest trees, is destined to become the rural retreat of some 
of Chicago's best citizens. 



WINNETKA. 



This pretty suburb, on the shores of Lake Michigan, is situated on the Milwau- 
kee division of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. It is about twelve miles 
north of the city limits. At this point the railroad runs nearer the lake than at any 
other along the road, being about a half mile distant from its bluff shores. 

The town was originally laid out, in 1854, by Messrs. Chas. E. Peck and Walter 
S. Garnee, who adopted the Indian name, signifying "beautiful land," as the name 
for the suburb. On the ridge, at that time, land sold for $50 per acre ; on the lake 
shore, for $100 per acre. The first resident was Mr. James I/. Wilson, who was 
quickly followed by the Hon. Artemas Carter. The population of the suburb is 



WINNETKA. 391 

now about 700. Last year $55,000 was expended in improvements. The village was 
incorporated in 1869. 

Winnetka is located on a ridge about eighty-five feet above the level of the lake ; 
the bluff on the shore is about fifty feet high, thus giving a beautiful view of the 
lake. The ground on which the village is located is covered with a fine, natural 
growth of timber. 

The northern portion of the village, comprising several hundred acres, is owned 
principally by Messrs. Timothy Wright, Tared Gage, Gilbert Hubbard, and Hon. 
Artemas Carter. This tract includes the ground around the new station of " Lake- 
side," near which has been built several handsome residences. The following 
deserve to be mentioned: That of Mr. G. W. Stoutenburgh, of the firm of Lord & 
Smith, and that of Mr. Tared Gage, of the Fidelity Savings Bank. 

In the southern portion of the village, Mr. J. T. Dale owns two tracts, one on 
the ridge, and the other on the lake shore, amounting to sixty acres ; Mr. R. M. 
Graves owns a tract of twenty acres ; Messrs. Dupee and Evarts, and Mr. David 
Fales, own about thirty-seven acres ; and Mrs, Stoal also owns a tract of about fif- 
teen acres, on the lake shore. All these parties are improving their property. 

Winnetka possesses several handsome residences. The home of Mr. Timothy 
Wright, proprietor of the Ransom Artificial Stone Works, of Chicago, stands in 
lovely grounds of twenty acres in extent, valued, with improvements, at $50,000. 
The residence af Mr. Barnum Blake occupies the opposite block of seven acres, and 
is valued at $20,000. Mr. Gilmore has a house and grounds, worth $16,000; and 
near by, are the rural homes of Mr. E. C. Towne, (now living at the east,) and Mr. 
Samuel Shackford, the former valued at $10,000 ; the latter, at $5,000. Mr. J. C. 
Garland, in a splendid location, has a handsome residence, built of stone, which, 
with the grounds, is valued at $30,000. Mr. R. P. Murphy has an elegant home, 
situated in a block of five acres. The establishment is valued at $18,000. South of 
Mr. Murphy's place, Mr. Jas. L. Wilson has a peculiar, picturesque-looking resi- 
dence, in a tract of three acres, valued at $12,000. Mr. Geo. N. Carpenter, late 
Secretary of the Chicago Christian Union, has a neat cottage, valued at $4,500 ; on 
the next lot, Mr, J. J. Brewer resides in a $6,000 homestead. On Lake avenue, is 
the residence of Mr. Gilbert Hubbard, in a block of four and one-half acres, 
valued at $14,000; adjoining is the elegant home of Hon. Artemas Carter, stand- 
ing in seven acres of a beautiful lawn, and valued at $18,000. Among the other 
owners of property are the following: J. O. Smith, J. S. Hamilton, R. M. Graves, A. 
Goodrich, G. W. Gray, of the law firm of Snowhook & Gray, D. R. W r illiams, W. W. 
Burdon, G. W. Richardson, Wm. Randolph, Thos. Copelin, E. A. Filkins, J. K. Pol- 
lard, Judge J. P. Atwood, J. T. Shepherd, J. T. Dale, S. W. Osgood, of the law firm 
of Osgood & Dale, Geo. McKinney, R. R. Stevens, and others. 

The educational advantages offered by this suburb are first-class. A fine brick 
academy building, and also a boarding house, have been erected, at a cost of $26,000 
The institution has been leased to the Chicago University for a term of years, and 
is now under the direction of the managers of the lai^ger institution. Prof. B. L 
Dodge and Miss Ida E. Stanley have charge of the pupils, and are very successful. 
The University has made the Academy one of its preparatory departments. The 
public school is also excellently managed. 

There are two churches in the village, one occupied by the Unitarian society, the 



39 2 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



other used conjointly by several denominations, under the name of the "Winnetka 
Evangelical Association." Professor Hemingway, of Evanston, preaches in the 
latter; Rev. Robert Collyer, of Chicago, very often lectures in the former. Sabbath 
schools, bible classes and sociables, are carried on with great success. 
■ . The suburb is well provided with general stores, and a pier extending into the 
lake greatly facilitates boating operations. The train service is excellent, and the 
commutation yearly ticket only $76. 

Real estate values in Winnetka have been kept at moderate prices. The policy 




Winnetka Seminary. 



pursued has been a conservative one, and but little attempt has been made to push 
sales. The following information supplied by Mr. E. T. Dale gives a fair idea of 
present values in Winnetka property. Mr. Dale has a subdivision on the lake shore, 
in which he holds lots fronting on Lake avenue and running back to the lake, about 
600 feet, at $25 per front foot. In the rear of these lots is a bluff forty feet high, 
overlooking the beach. On the opposite side of Lake avenue, lots fronting east, from 
175 feet to 250 feet in depth, are held at $12 per foot, and lots on Groveland and 
Fairriew avenues at $8 per foot. He has also a subdivision on the ridge, west of 
the railroad, in which choice lots on Hazel and Linden streets, of 177 feet depth,, 
are held at from $10 to $12 per foot. 






HIGHLAND PARK. 393 



HIGHLAND PARK. 

This attractive suburb, situated on the Milwaukee division of the Chicago & 
Northwestern railway, 24 miles from the city, shows a most gratifying progress. 

The site of Highland Park is similar to that of Lake Forest, four miles beyond. 
The original plat comprises over 1,200 acres, nearly all lying between the railroad 
and Lake Michigan. The width/ of the limits is about three-quarters of a mile, and 
the length two and a half miles. By this, a fine frontage on the lake is obtained, 
which cannot be too highly spoken of. The bluff is magnificent. It ranges from 
80 to 100 feet in height, and gives a commanding view of the lake, with its fleets of 
outward and inward bound vessels. The lovely lake view is supplemented with 
inland beauties, fully on a par with those of other suburbs. The whole twelve 
hundred acres is covered with a hardy growth of shade trees in great variety ; and 
in lieu of the dull monotony of prairie land, the rolling surface of this suburb is 
broken up by ravines. These ravines not only please the eye, but provide a natural 
system of drainage, the full benefit of which it is impossible to over-estimate. Along 
the -bed of the largest, known as the Grand ravine, has been laid out, for three- 
quarters of a mile, a beautiful carriage drive. This drive is, indeed, one of the 
main features of the suburb. It is known as the "ravine drive," and is, altogether, 
about four miles long. 

The natural beauties of Highland Park have been supplemented by the skilled 
labor of man, with much success. This suburb boasts a first-class hotel, built by 
the Highland Park Building Company, which controls the improvements generally 
at the Park. The building was designed by Mr. W. W. Boyington, and is in the 
French style. Its length is 300 feet, and the height three stories. It contains 125 
rooms, and was erected at a cost of $50,000 which the owners are rather likely to 
soon get back in rents, as the patronage of the establishment by summer sojourners 
has already been very large. 

Much of the beauty of the place is owing to the fact that the Company, imme- 
diately after making its purchase of 1,200 acres, called in the aid of good landscape 
gardeners to lay it out. These gentlemen entered with earnestness on their task, 
and were successful in evolving a plan which is admitted to be the most happy util- 
ization possible of the natural beauties of the place. The retired character of true 
suburban residences has been in every case preserved, and great liberality introduced 
in the division of the land for homes. They divided up the suburb into lots accord- 
ing to the natural lay of the land. On the more level portions, lots were made 
100x200 feet in size ; and on the bluffs, or where the ravines cut up the territory, 
they were put at from five to ten acres. By this means, the suburb offers induce- 
ments to all — being neither snobbishly aristocratic, nor wholly given over to the 
poor. Every one can find a habitation suited to his particular wants and means. 

The population of Highland Park is about 1,500 persons. The Highland Park 
Building Association, of which James E. Tyler, Esq., is President ; Hon. Jesse O. 
Norton, Vice-president ; and Mr. Frank P. Hawkins, Secretary, has disposed o 



394 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



about $200, oco worth of its land, and holds that which is still left at a valuation of 
about half a million of dollars. The policy of the Company has been, during the 
past four years, to build and sell, on reasonable terms, dwellings to suit any applicant. 
Their efforts have been crowned with such deserved success that to-day Highland 
Park is the second suburban town in point of population on the north lake shore. 
What is more, it shows every sign of rapid increase in the number of its inhabitants. 
No intoxicating liquor is allowed to be sold in the town, and to the negative advan- 
tages resulting from this, are to be added the positive benefits which are sure to flow 
from the erection of good school-houses and church edifices. The Presbyte- 
rian church, under the care of Rev. E. L. Hurd, and the Baptist, under the pastor- 
ship of Rev. George L. Wrenn, both have creditable houses of worship. The 
Catholics, who include in their ranks many of the American residents in the suburb, 
also worship in a sacred edifice of their own. The improvements of the suburb in- 
clude a pier, built for landing building materials, and which also offers opportuni- 
ties for pleasure parties to enjoy boat excursions. The project of establishing 
water-works, to bring water direct frcm the lake to every house in the subuib, has 
been favorably decided upon, and next season will doubtless see the work actively 
commenced. 

The list of residents of Highland Park includes a large number of most promi- 
nent Chicago merchants and professional men. Among them may be mentioned at 
random ihe following — W. W. Eoyington, Esq., the architect, who lives in a mag- 
nificent residence on the lake shore, costing seme $i5,cco, without its grounds. 
Adjoining Mr. Boyington's, Mr. John Middleton has a very handsome suburban 
home ; Mr. G. W. Schroeder, the Swedish consul, has a fine residence, built of brick, 
with every convenience ; Col. W. A. James owns a beautiful residence, surrounded 
by lovely grounds; Mr. J. W. Preston has also elegant premises. Among the list 
of property owners and residents are also to be mentioned Thos. H. Beebe, C. J. 
Hammond, John Piatt, of Keeler, Piatt & Judson, C. R. Field, W. S. Downs, of 
the firm of Downs & Sias, S. B. Williams, Geo. Denison, Elisha Gray, F. T. French, 
S. C. Hotchkiss, S. S. Streeter, H. L. Green, Hiram Mosier, James Macdonald, 
Henry Cummings, Olney Roscoe, Thomas R. Willard, F. P. Hawkins, Thomas H. 
Spencer, Henry Atwater. and others. 

The price paid by the Company, six years ago, for the whole tract embraced in 
the town plat was only $40 per acre. Within the past few weeks, they disposed of 
85 acres of the poorest land at the round figure of $1,000 per acre. The present 
prices of land in the subuib are $10 to $25 per front foot on small lots, and $i,cco 
to $2,500 per acre on the larger tracts. 

Mr. S. J. Walker owns, among his other vast real estate interests, a tract of four 
hundred acres of choice property adjoining this suburb on the north, which he pur- 
chased five years ago at a very small figure. It will now average $1,000 per acre- 
or $400,000. 



HIGHWOOD. 395 



HIGHWOOD. 

High wood is a new settlement, on the Milwaukee Division of the Chicago and 
Northwestern railway, about twenty-four miles from the city. The property was 
Owned by the Rev. W. W. Everts, D.D., and Mr. E. Ashley Mears, who, about a 
year and a half ago, enclosed about twenty acres of their land, and laid it out in 
lots. They then built themselves residences. Mr. Mears had an elegant house 
erected on a commanding hill, at a cost of $io,oco (in which he lives at present), 
and two others costing $3,000 each. Dr. Everts built three houses, costing $3,500 
each. The place, once having been started, grew rapidly, until now there are some 
sixty houses within a radius of a mile around the depot. The population is about 
three hundred. 

There are some fine native features which commend the situation to lovers of 
nature. Some of the ravines are from seventy-five to one hundred feet deep, giv- 
ing to the improved grounds a picturesque appearance. 

Dr. Everts has completed an elegant family mansion, and is expending a good 
deal of money in cultivating the grounds around it. Mr. W. W. Boyington, archi- 
tect, has a fine residence adjoining that of Dr. Everts, which, with the improve- 
ments to be made, will cost no less than $20,000. Mr. Piatt has a brick house which 
cost $10,000. Messrs. A. C. Rogers and H. J. Hogarth have completed houses 
costing $4,000 each. Mr. S. C. Wilson has a beautiful house, facing the lake, on 
Railway avenue, which cost $10,000. Mr. C. H. Summers, of the Western Union 
Telegraph Company, has a residence near the railway depot, and an office in connec- 
tion therewith. 

High wood can already boast of a commodious school-house, a post-office, express 
office, telegraph office, numerous stores, and a tombstone manufactory. A church is 
about to be built, land having already been donated for that purpose. 

A park has been laid out, under the supervision of Dr. Everts, which adds to 
the attractions of the suburb. 

Mr. Samuel J. Walker has recently purchased six hundred acres of land adjoin- 
ing the park, and has paved the way for an important addition to the suburb by 
laying it out in lots, and opening Walker avenue, one hundred feet wide, from the 
depot to the lake. He has also improved the grounds about the depot. 

Several other prominent men of Chicago have purchased considerable property 
adjoining the plat, intending to build residences, and offer the rest for sale in lots. 

The following gentlemen have already secured lots at Highwood : James E. Ty- 
ler, Judge Booth, John Henry Wrenn and W. F. Brewster, of Wrenn & Brewster, 
bankers ; Grange Sard, Jr., of John F. Rathbone & Co. ; Josiah D. Cole, of Norton, 
Cole & Co. ; H. B. Hurd, Evanston ; William A. James, of W. A- James & Co. ; 
F. P. Hawkins, Ex-Mayor of Highland Park ; B. F. Jacobs ; J. E. Burchell ; W. 
W. Boyington ; R. E. Goodell ; Hon. Jesse O. Norton ; Thomas Foster, lumber 
merchant ; and many others. 

Messrs. Everts and Mears purchased the first lands around the depot at $125 



396 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

per acre ; and one year ago sold the same in lots at $5 per front foot. It is now- 
held at $10 per front foot. The property south and east of the depot was sold by 
W. A. Butters & Co., at auction, in the fall of 1872, in lots of 100x200 feet, at an 
average of $7 per foot. 

The Northwestern railroad company makes almost hourly connections with Chi- 
cago, at commutation rates, which the well-to-do citizen finds convenient. A more 
pleasant ride could hardly be found, the scenery all along the route being one chain 
of improved suburbs along the lake shore, such as Ravenswood, Rosehill, Calvary, 
Evanston, Wilmette, Glencoe, which present a succession of elegant suburban 
residences along the line of the railway. 



GLENCOE. 

Glencoe is situated eighteen miles north of Chicago, on the Milwaukee Division 
of the Northwestern road, and is one of the localities favored with a growth of na- 
tive trees, high ground, abounding in eligible and pretty building sites. Water of 
good quality is easily obtained at from eighteen to twenty-four feet below the sur- 
face. 

Improvements on this tract began in 1869, and many houses are erected, and 
gome little business already established. The principal houses are owned by G. H. 
Williams, J". W. P. Hovey, J. C. Starr, Dr. Nutt, Gen. Howard, A. H. Hovey, C. L. 
Jenks, Chas. Ritchie, and M. W. Wilmarlh. The value of the houses ranges from 
$4,000 to $12,000. The village has a good school, and a church edifice. 

It is claimed that $185,000 have already been expended in improvements. Com- 
mutation fare is eighty dollars per year, and accommodation trains are numerous. 



LAKE FOREST. 

In 1856, the Lake Forest Association was formed by the members of the 
Presbyterian churches of Chicago. This Company was organized for the purchase 
of lands at Lake Forest, with a view to the erection of a university, and other in- 
stitutions of learning. About 2,000 acres of land were purchased by the Associa- 
tion, 1,400 of which went into Lake Forest, 39 acres were given to the university 
for building ground, 10 acres to the female seminary, and 10 acres were set aside 
for a park. Alternate lots were retained for the benefit of the university, and the 
others sold ; and so rapidly did prices advance, and the suburb take a leading posi- 
tion as the favorite resort of the better class of Chicago's inhabitants, that the 
scheme proved an undoubted financial success. The Association still holds about 600 
acres of land, at prices varying from $300 to $1,000 per acre. Its Board of Directors 
is comprised of the following gentlemen ; Hon. H. P. Pearson, G. L. Dunlap, Chaun- 
cey T. Bowen, Ira Holmes, Hon. C. B. Farwell, Samuel McLaren, of New York ; 
K. N. Spruance, Gen. Stager, Page and Sprague. The late Alexander White was 
also a member of the Board. The Company have built an elegant hotel overlooking 



LAKE FOREST. 397 

the lake, and carried on different improvements all with admirable results. The 
hotel has been filled with visitors during the summer, and constitutes a resort which 
" is becoming (in the language of a Forester) as great a favorite with Chicago peo- 
ple as Newport or Long Branch is to the heated and worn out denizens of New 
York and other eastern cities." 

The university has not yet been built, but excellent educational establishments 
are found in the village. There is a young ladies' seminary, under the direction of 
Professor Weston, and an academy for young men under the care of Professor 
Allen. The young ladies' seminary is a beautiful structure, known as " Ferry 
Hall," in honor of the late Rev. Win. W. Ferry, who contributed a large part of 
the $60,000 which was expended in its construction. Gas and steam are found 
throughout the building, and the apartments for teaching are eminently fitted 
for the purpose. There are some funds in hand for the erection of the university, 
but the prosecution of the matter rests with a Board. It is expected that woik will 
not be much longer delayed. There is a fine Presbyterian church in town, of which 
the Rev. Mr. Taylor is pastor. 

Apart from public improvements, Lake Forest boasts of more elegant private res- 
idences than almost any other suburb. During the past year three estimable citi- 
zens have permanently located themselves in the village. Mr. S. Reid, of the firm 
of Reid, Murdock & Fisher, has recently finished a $24,000 house, on a pretty lot ; Mr. 
Henry Durand, of the firm of Durand Bros., has also completed an elegant residence, 
costing about $40,000 ; Mr. Buckingham, of Sturges & Buckingham, the elevator 
men, has bought a pretty place, not large, nor held at fancy figures ; but it is only 
preliminary to the erection of a splendid residence. Mr. Buckingham wishes to try 
before he buys, and hence has gone a little slow in the matter of the selection of the 
site for his future home. Perhaps the most beautiful place in Lake Forest is that 
of Mrs. Alexander White, which was purchased by her late husband from H. M. 
Thompson, Esq. Possessed of a large fortune, as well as refined and luxurious 
tastes, the late proprietor was able to make his estate very beautiful in all respects. 
The price put upon the place is not less than $100,000. Then the Farwells, dry 
goods merchants, own lovely palaces in the center of the town. Mr. John 
V. Farwell lives in a turreted baronial castle, built of the concrete made 
in the town, and presenting a quaint and picturesque appearance. The inte- 
rior is elegantly finished in black-walnut and cherry. His brother, Hon. 
C. B. Farwell, has a place on a commanding elevation overlooking the lake. 
The residence of Mr. Charles Bradley, one of Chicago's leading merchants, 
is very elaborate and costly. It is a large English cottage, which he has chris- 
tened " Carlsruhe," and not without reason, for the grounds are as beautiful as 
that famed German retreat. Mr. E. L. Canfield owns eight acres, and has erected 
a substantial brick house. He has a fine collection of trees on his large lot, and 
with the improvements made, is now the owner of a very handsome residence. 
"Forest Lawn," Mr. D. J. Lake's place, is also an elegant residence. Mr. Sylvester 
Lind, at one time mayor of the city, has a pretty house on a large tract of land, 
well shaded with trees. Among the other prominent citizens of Lake Forest, 
besides those already named, may be mentioned, H. T. Helm, D. R. Holt, W, H. 
Ferry, Dr. C. H. Meridan, W. S. Johnson, William Warren, S. D. Ward, E. T. 
Wells, Samuel Barnum, and others. 



398 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



ENGLEWOOD. 

This rapidly-improving suburb is situated at the present terminus of those 
broad and beautiful city thoroughfares, Michigan, Wabash and Indiana avenues. 
Thus favorably located with regard to 'approach by carriage drives, the suburb is 
also particularly favored with excellent railroad facilities. It is the junction of 
three great railroad lines — the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the Chicago, 
Rock Island & Pacific, and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroads. The 
advantages derived from these splendid railroad facilities are rendered the more 
valuable from the location of the city depots of the three roads. That of the Pitts- 
burgh & Fort Wayne is on the corner of Canal and Madison streets ; that of the 
other two roads, on Van Buren and LaSalle streets. One depot is convenient to the 
heart of the business portion of the west division ; the other is equally advantage- 
ously located for the convenience of the merchants, clerks and artizans of the south 
division. The ride is made inside of thirty minute s, and the fare is but a trifle 
over that of the street cars. No less than 2S trains to and from Englewood stop at 
the depot, affording every facility for access to and arriv al from the city. 

The topographical situation of Englewood is good. It is mainly located on a 
ridge running in a southwesterly direction from the lake. The supply of water is 
good, and coming through heavy gravel deposits, it is of a very pure character, and 
is never failing. The drainage of the suburb is admirable, as a necessary conse- 
quence of features already described. 

The suburb is remarkable for its educational advan tages. The most important 
of these is the Cook County Normal School. The building was erected some years 
ago, at a cost of $120,000. It is located in a park of about 20 acres, handsomely 
ornamented with trees, etc., and is situated about four blocks from the center of the 
suburb. Recent statistics, as to the work being done by this institution, show that 
during the last session, the number of students in attendance in the normal depart- 
ment was 116 ; in preparatory department, 83 ; in model department, 35 ; in grammar 
department, 54 ; in intermediate department, 63 ; and in the primary classes, 49. 
The total shows no less than 456 pupils receiving the benefits of this admirable in- 
stitution. The county employs and pays three teachers for the normal department, 
one for the preparatory department, and one training teacher. The school district 
No. 2 of th<; town of Lake employs three teachers in the high school depart- 
ment, one in the model, and two in the grammar school ; and in addition pays 
the county $i,ooo per year for rent. The primary and intermediate classes are 
taught by pupils in the normal schools, under the superintendence of a training 
teacher. The benefits of this institution are participated in by some of our city 
children, about 60 pupils availing themselves of the " school trains." Another party 
of pupils also comes from the neighborhood of Joliet. 

The citizens of Englewood have long mooted the idea of erecting a high-school 
building for their own use, and at an early period of the present year, decided to ap- 
propriate $30,000 for that purpose. Work on the building is being rapidly ad- 
vanced. 



ENGLEWOOD. 



399 



The church organizations of the place are four in number. They include the 
Congregational, Baptist, Methodist and Episcopalian. All these denominations 
worship in neat edifices, and show an encouraging amount of vitality. 

The different lines of business necessary to the due comfort of any community 
are well represented at Engl e wood. 

The growth of this suburb has been very rapid. Eour years since, there were 




Cook County Normal School. 



but very few houses, probably less than one hundred. To-day, the population 
numbers over 3,coo, and during the past season the work of building has been car- 
ried on very extensively. The location of the suburb, being directly west of the 
great south side park, and possessing such excellent railroad facilities, renders it 
certain of advancement. The number of business men now resident at Englewood 
is large. 

The value of real estate shows a wonderful development. From the old acre- 




Pi 

P< 



O 

w 
u 

w 



w 
Pi 



ENGLEWOOD. 401 

lot prices of $250 to $1,000, rates are now obtained of from $75 to $100 per front 
foot on the avenues ; and four or five blocks from the depot, from $25 to $45 per 
front foot is obtainable. 

The engraving on page 400 represents the beautiful residence and grounds 
of Mr. John Raber. It is located on State street, directly opposite Fifty-eighth 
street, fronting eastward towards the South Parks, and is the most attractive 
and home-like residence in the village. As will be seen, the house stands in the 
center of handsomely arranged grounds, consisting of six acres, and, although the 
building itself is not remarkable for its beauty, its surroundings are such as to ren- 
der the general view very inviting. Within the enclosure are finely graveled walks 
and drives, bordered with beautiful arbor vitae hedges. Miniature lakes, filled 
with gold-fishes, and other pleasing features are to be met at every hand. Mr. 
Raber purchased the house and ten acres of ground in 1862, for $17,000, and 
shortly after purchased three acres adjoining on the south, for $1,750. In 1869 he 
sold seven acres for $17,000. He reserved the six acres which he now owns. The 
premises are considered worth fully $75,000 at the present time. 

Worthy of mention, in connection with the description of Englewood, is the 
subdivision owned by L. W. Beck, Esq. It is described as the southwest quarter of 
section 21, 38, 14, and was purchased by Mr. Beck, August 24, 1864, with no inten- 
tion of subdividing or selling the tract, for at least ten years. Mr. Beck donated 
and conveyed ten acres, in 1869, to the Cook County Normal School, to be used for 
school purposes. During the same year, a contract was made with Messrs. Hulburd 
& Co., to subdivide and sell the southeast forty acres, which was subsequently sub- 
divided into eight blocks of twenty-four lots each, the lots being fifty feet front. 
These lots were sold at an average of $8 per front foot, or $400 per lot, making an 
aggregate of $76,800 for the forty acres, the major part having been sold while the 
Normal School building, which now forms such a pleasing ornament to the subdi- 
vision, was in process of erection. In the year 1871, the lots sold at from $12 to 
$15 per foot ; in 1872, $18 to $20 ; and but little, if any, can now beobtained for 
less than $20 per foot, or $1,000 per lot, making the present value $192,000 for the 
forty acres, or an advance of $115,200 in three years. In October, 1871, the south- 
west forty-acre tract was subdivided, Wallace street being the east, and Halsted 
street the west, line. It was subdivided into eight blocks of forty-eight lots each, the 
lots being twenty-five feet front. Sales have been made during 1871-72 at $400 per 
lot for the north, and $300 for the southern tier of blocks. The north eighty acres, 
extending from Sixty-seventh to Sixty-ninth streets, and Stewart avenue to Halsted 
street (except the ten-acre grounds of the Normal School), is known as Beck's Park 
subdivision, and was planned by the owner. Upon this park Mr. Beck is expend- 
ing a large amount of money, with the intention to make it complete before offer- 
ing any part of it for sale. An artesian well has been sunk to the depth of 1,143 
feet, flowing, with great force, nearly 1,000 gallons of pure water per minute. The 
well with its attachments has cost upward of $10,000. The water is carried to 
artificial lakes and fountains, which form pleasing and enjoyable features to the 
general make-up of the park. About io,oco shade and ornamental trees have been 
set out, and 5,000 more are to be added. The curvilineal walks and drives will be 
prepared as speedily as possible, and everything that money and enterprise can 

26 



402 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

accomplish will be done to make the subdivision one of the most inviting residence 
quarters south of the city. 

Messrs. Storrs & Ware have charge of a tract known as the Normal School sub- 
division. The improvements on this property are extensive, and the lots show a 
constant rise in value. 



AUBURN, 

A new suburb lying between Englewood and South Englewood, on the line of 
the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railway, eight miles south of the Court-house 
and one mile south of Englewood. It consists ..of one hundred and sixty acres, 
being the west half of the west half of section 28, 38, 14. The plat was purchased 
ten years ago by B. W. Wood at $100 per acre. It was subdivided in January, 
1873, by Messrs. Wood & Smith, into lots varying in width from 50 to 100 feet, and 
of an average depth of 140 feet. At this time it was named Auburn. In the fol- 
lowing spring a neat depot was erected by the proprietors, and arrangements con- 
summated to have all the accommodation trains, twelve in number, stop daily for 
passengers. The commutation rates for each ride is fixed at from eight to eleven 
cents. The land is a handsome prairie tract lying several feet higher than the city, 
and a perfect drainage has been established, and excellent cellars are procured with 
little labor and expense. Over three thousand large shade trees have been planted, 
all the streets opened and graded, over two miles of sidewalk laid, and several resi- 
dences erected. Mr. Brainard T. Smith owns the largest house, in the building of 
which he expended $5,000. The others are worth about $3,000 each. 

Auburn is but a few blocks from the Englewood Normal School, which has pri- 
mary, grammer, normal and high school departments, all under charge of an excel- 
lent corps of teachers. It is within walking distance of the three churches at 
Englewood and the business part of that thriving town. It is on the line of the 
most rapidly improving section on the south side of the river. It lies between two 
handsome graveled drives running through the south parks to the city, each of 
which is a main highway of travel. 

The improvements in the three suburbs of Englewood, Auburn and South En- 
glewood, form almost an unbroken line of buildings, and the next south extension 
of the city will place them upon its very borders. 

The gas and water pipes of Hyde Park and Lake townships will soon be ex- 
tended through Auburn to South Englewood, and will be available to settlers there 
at small cost. 

The prices of lots range from $15 to $20 per foot. Special inducements in 
prices and terms are offered to actual settlers. 



A 



SOUTH ENGLEWOOD. 403 



SOUTH ENGLEWOOD. 

This village is on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad, 
about ten miles from the Court-house and three miles south of Englewood proper. 
It embraces several subdivisions, and their respective owners are contributing their 
capital and enterprise toward developing improvements and making the place more 
attractive and appreciable. 

The original subdivision was laid out by Messrs. Sisson & Newman in July, 
1872, when they purchased 305 acres (situated on the east of, and adjoining the line 
of the railroad) from Dr. Dyer, at $700 per acre. In subdividing, they made one- 
half-acre lots, which they sold at the rate of $600 to $700. 

After the fire, the suburban towns and subdivisions about the city began to 
attract the attention of business men and others, and we believe South Englewood 
received a very favorable share of the investments then seeking the suburbs, the 
price of land being enhanced enormously. In less than one year, Sisson & New- 
man had disposed of their entire interest at more than double the first cost of the 
property. 

The first sale made by these gentlemen was the tier of blocks between Nine- 
tieth and Ninety-first streets, to Mr. Henry W. Brooks, at $1,000 per acre. The 
next transfer was made also to M r. Brooks, which was the. conveyance of the tier 
of blocks between Eighty-ninth and Ninetieth streets, at $1,200. The third sale 
was at the rate of $1,800 per acre, conveying land fronting on Jefferson street. 
Half-acre lots, between Eighty-seventh and Eighty-ninth streets, were sold in the 
fall of 1872, at from $1,200 to $2,500 each. Lots of twenty-five feet front in the 
same locality were sold last season at $400 and $500 each. The final trans- 
fers made to close out the original owners' interests were to Messrs. Gilbert & 
Givens. 

There are at present three firms actively operating in the sale of property at 
this point, viz. : Messrs. Henry W. Brooks & Co., Gilbert & Givens, and Noble & 
Richmond. The last named firm purchased forty acres of the original tract from 
Sisson & Newman, under contract to build thirty houses during every twelve 
months for three years, making ninety in all. These forty acres are in the 
immediate vicinity of the depot, and are bounded by Eighty-sixth, Eighty-ninth 
and Jefferson streets and the railroad. Lots have been selling in this tract at the 
rate of $15 to $18 per front foot, except on the boulevard (Eighty-ninth street), 
where the property is laid out in half-acre lots and sold only to parties who will 
sign an obligation to construct dwellings which will cost not less than $5,000 each. 

Mr. Brook's tract embraces eighty acres in the south part of the original sub- 
division, which he divided into nearly 800 lots, over 500 of which he has already 
disposed of at prices ranging from $300 to $450 each. 

It has recently been ascertained that the great Belt railroad, which is to nea rly 
encircle the city, is to pass directly through the tract owned by Mr. Brooks, using 
the already established road connecting South Chicago with this place, crossing the 
Rock Island railroad at Ninetieth street, thence running west to a point in section 



4°4 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



six, where it crosses the Great Eastern, thence partly along this to the southeast corner 
of section 25, and thence northwesterly to a point on the south line of section 22, 
thence north to the Chicago & Pacific railroad. The management of the Belt are 
to build at South Englewood a large depot, houses for their gangs of men, etc. 
This new enterprise will be a lasting and substantial benefit to the already far ad- 
vanced suburb, as it will give eight additional trains daily, besides being a connect- 




South Englewood Depot. 

ing link with all the different lines of railroad diverging from the city. Prepara- 
tions are already being made in the line of first-class praiseworthy improvements. 

Messrs. Gilbert & Givens purchased no acres of the original subdivision from 
Sisson & Newman early in the spring of 1873, at an average price of $1,750 per 
acre. This tract embraces the timbered ridge which is located in the eastern por- 
tion of the suburb, and has a winding course toward the southeast. The site has 
been well chosen for a suburban village, and one destined to become a center of 
attraction to suburban settlers. 

South Englewood connects with the city and the parks by two fine drives, (Hal- 
sted "street and Vincennes avenue), both of which are finely graveled and macada- 
mized. The Eighty-seventh street boulevard has been laid out two hundred feet 
wide'to Halsted street. 



I 



i 



WASHINGTON HEIGHTS. 405 

There are several very tine dwellings in this subdivision ; one belonging to Mr, 
Ingham, which is really the finest in the place at the present writing, although 
others of a more extravagant character are contemplated. Mr. Givins owns another 
very neat dwelling, which is located in the edge of the grove at the east of the town, 
Messrs. Noble & Richmond have contributed largely to the building up of the vil- 
lage, they having constructed a block of six fine swell-front brick residences, two 
stories, besides basement, in height. Other dwellings are in course of erection, which 
will be completed this fall. Mr. Brooks intends to erect a $10,000 residence there early 
in the spring of '74. The public improvements now under favorable consideration, 
which will probably be carried out next season, are : The laying out of a handsome 
park, and building a church edifice, a commodious school house, and a hotel. An 
artesian well is in course of construction. 

Messrs. A. & A. D. Bellamy own a tract of forty acres adjacent to the railroad, 
on the west of that above described, which they purchased in 1872, at $1,000 per 
acre. 



WASHINGTON HEIGHTS. 

1 

This place, situated twelve miles from the city, on the Chicago & Rock Island 
and Chicago, Danville & Vincennes railroads, has lately received more attention from 
investors and the general public than any other residence suburb around Chicago. 

It comprises the high ridge of land extending from the south line of Lake town- 
ship, southward to the village of Blue Island, on the Calumet river. The ridge is 
six miles long. The plat with its additions includes over two sections of land, and 
lies in sections 7, 17, 18, 19, and 20, in township 37, range 14, and on both sides of 
the ridge. The lands originally belonged to James R. Morgan. 

The Blue Island Land and Building Company, composed of F. H. Winston, 
Geo. C. Walker, J. F. Tracy, T. S. Dobbins, J. B. Lyon, C. W. Weston and Mr. Mil- 
lerton, purchased 1,500 acres, in 1869, paying $150,000 for the interest. The plan 
pursued by the Company immediately after its creation and organization, in 1869, 
was to subdivide the tract into lots, and sell them to actual settlers. The Company 
built houses upon them for the purchasers, and sold them on time payments, with 
the lots, thus enabling people of moderate means to secure a home, and avoid the 
payment of high rents in the city. The capital stock subscribed was $320,000. 

The first sale made by the Company was twenty acres, at $225 per acre. A 
portion of this has been re-sold at more than three times that amount. A part of 
the ridge land was sold to John Davis for $300 per acre. Col. George R. Clarke, 
now largely interested at the Heights, recently offered $2,500 per acre for this 
tract, which Mr. Davis refused. Mr. C. Hopkinson purchased twelve acres, in 1369, 
at $400 per acre, which cannot now be bought at less than from $2,500 to $3,000 
per acre. The Blue Island Land and Building Company, during the years 1869 
and 1870, sold twenty-five -foot lots at from $65 to $75 per lot, which are now held 
at from $200 to $300 each. 

In the year 1872, the great activity in sales, which has characterized the opera- 
tions of this Company, commenced. In that year the sale of lots aggregated 



406 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

$267,743. These sales included two lots improved by handsome dwellings. The 
Company, soon after their purchase, built the Washington Heights branch of the 
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad. This road leaves the main track at 
Ninety-ninth street, and runs to the east end of the ridge, and again forms a con- 
nection with the main road at the village of Blue Island. It brought within easy 
access of the city the most eligible property of the suburb. Among the improve- 
ments, made on an extensive scale by the Company this year, is a large sewer, 
reaching from Prospect avenue to the main track of the Chicago & Rock Island 
railroad. It is six feet in diameter, and effectually drains all the lands controlled 
by the Company. In grading and ditching, the Company have expended $55,000. 

The territory occupied by this village was formerly named the Blue Island Ridge, 
which gave to the Company its present name. The reports of the topographical 
engineers state that it was at one time an island, situated near the shores of Lake 
Michigan. This opinion is supported by the finding of numberless shells and fossils, 
which are to be found in all portions of the territory about the Heights. The 
" island" stands at the present time from 40 to 96 feet above the lake level. The 
timber, which at one time covered the main ridge, has been cleared away for farming 
purposes, except four miles at the east side of it, which are still covered with large 
trees of several varieties. The Company has also set out 11,500 trees on the Morgan 
Park property. The original improvements were commenced on Tracy avenue, one- 
half mile from the north boundary. The Company first built sidewalks on the 
principal streets and two depots at Morgan Park — one on the track of the Chicago 
& Rock Island railway and one on the dummy branch, one half mile distant from 
each other. Another depot is erected one half mile from the north boundary, an- 
other one half mile south, on the dummy track, and a new one on Raymond street, 
one half mile south of Morgan Park. Washington Heights station, at the main 
crossing of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Pittsburgh, Chicago & St. 
Louis railway tracks, is 12 miles south of Madison street. The vicinity of this depot 
is thickly settled for both business and residence purposes by an industrious and ex- 
cellent class of people. 

Most of the whole tract of Washington Heights is subdivided, streets cut through, 
graded, and bordered with young shade trees. One of the principal streets is the 
Western avenue of Chicago, which was the old western city limits, and runs north 
and south from the village of Blue Island to North Evanston, a distance of twenty- 
nine miles. It runs a little west of the center of the main ridge which divides the 
highest portion of the land, and is one hundred feet wide. This avenue is graded 
and graveled from the city limits to the line of the town of Worth, six miles, and is 
being graveled from that point to Blue Island village through Washington Heights 
— another six miles — this year, forming, as soon as completed, a splendid drive oi 
twelve miles. 

Several subdivisions have been made along the line of the branch railroad and 
in other localities, aside from the lands of the Blue Island Land and Building Co. 
That of the Calumet & Chicago Canal and Dock Co., at the junction of the branch 
with the main track, is worthy of note. In this, streets are opened and graded and 
the property is going up in value at a rattling pace. At Winston avenue, quite a 
settlement is already gathered. 

Messrs. Hough & Reed's subdivision, made near the line of Ninety-ninth street, 



WASHINGTON HEIGHTS. 407 

has 25 or 30 neat houses built upon it, costing from $800 to $2,000 each. This land 
could be purchased a few years ago at $2 per front foot. It now sells at from $12 to 
$20 per foot. 

Mr. Young has a subdivision of 80 acres which in '69 was worth $150 per acre ; 
in 1870, $200 per acre ; in 1871, $300 per acre ; in 1872, $500 per acre ; and is now 
held at not less than $1,000 per acre. This land all lies on the ridge. 

Lots on Prospect avenue have increased in value from $3 per foot in 1870, to 
$15 per foot in 1873. C» n Washington avenue, lots increased 50 per cent, from 1870 
to 1871, and 100 per cent, each year since that time. They are now worth from $10 
to $20 per foot. Inside of the Blue Island Land and Building Company's tract, 
several subdivisions have been made. Hopkinson's subdivision of block 13 contains 
25 lots, 100x250 feet. They are- to-day worth from $15 to $25 per foot. They 
have increased to this value from $600 per acre in 1870. The block was purchased, 
with obligation to improve, from the Company in 1869, at $375 per acre. 

Messrs. Hilliard & Hitt made a subdivision of 80 acres at the crossing of the 
Chicago & Rock Island and Pittsburgh, Chicago & St. Louis railroads in 1868. 

The main business of Washington Heights has been done on Tracy avenue, on 
the north line of this subdivision. The land is part grove and part prairie. The 
Boutwell House, a large hotel near the depot, and several residences — among them 
that of Willis M. Hitt — are in this subdivision. These parties also subdivided the 
southeast quarter of section 8, 37, 14, containing 160 acres, situate east of the rail- 
way crossing on Tracy avenue, in 1868, and sold it in parcels of 10 acres each. The 
prices were as follows: In 1868, $100 per acre; 1869, $150 ; 1870, $200; 1871, 
$250 ; 1872, $600 ; and in 1873, $800 per acre. 

Purchasers have, completed and under contract, about 100 small cottages, worth 
from $400 to $600 each, and giving a sufficient number of dwelling-places for 600 
people. 

Willis M. Hitt has a subdivision of 50 acres, bounded by South street on the 
north, Prospect avenue on the west, and Vincennes road on the east, sides. This 
tract sold in 1869 at $150 ; 1870, $300 ; 1872, $500 ; and in 1873 at from $1,000 to 
$1,200 per acre. 

In general, it may be said that the average present value of lands on the three 
ridges rising one above the other will range as follows: Highest and next highest 
ridge, from $1,200 to $1,500 per lot, and on lowest ridge from $750 to $1,000 per 
lot. On Prospect avenue values, per foot, range from $20 to $25 ; on Church street, 
from $10 to $15 ; on South street, from $10 to $20 ; on Morgan avenue, from $10 to 
§25 ; on Vincennes avenue, at the crossing, from $20 to $25 ; on Tracy avenue, from 
$10 to $20 ; on Charles street, from $5 to $14 ; on Winston avenue, from $10 to $30. 

Among other parties, not mentioned before, who have made subdivisions are 
Messrs. Belmont, Chambers, Thayer, Baker and others. 

The original town of Washington Heights contains 104 blocks differing in size, 
some square, containing 48 lots, and others divided into from 12 to 15 large lots on 
the ridges, where the finest residence sites are located. 

On the west side of Prospect avenue, just south of ninety-fifth street, Mr. C. 
Howe has erected two $4,000 cottages, one of which he occupies for a residence. 
Farther south, on the same avenue, are the residences of Mrs. Kingman, and 
Messrs. Mason, Cox, Heffron, W. W. Watson, and Cupland Brockway — all neat frame 




Mt. Vernon Military and Classical Academy. 



WASHINGTON HEIGHTS. 409 

structures, varying in value from $3,000 to $4,000. Between South street and 
Morgan avenue, Prospect avenue sweeps in a graceful curve to the westward, fol- 
lowing the land of the timbered ridge. On this curve is the fine residence of Mr. 
Wm. Hopkinson. This lot is believed to have been the camping ground of the 
Indians for many years. Numerous relics in arrow-tips and pottery are found there, 
and near by are Indian mounds. The grounds about Mr. Hopkinson's residence 
are elegantly laid out, and improved in the highest style of modern landscape gar- 
dening. Some giant oaks, measuring from twelve to fourteen feet in circumference, 
are enclosed with the grounds. Mr. Hopkinson paid $350 per acre for the tract, to 
the B. I. L. and B. Co., of whom he purchased it four years ago. It is now valued 
at $2,000 per acre. / 

About four hundred and eighty acres of the ridge is known as Morgan Park. 
Nearly all of this tract has been sold out by the B. I. L. and B. Co., in large lots 
intended for handsome residences. It is in the vicinity of Morgan and Prospect 
avenues. The sales made from this subdivision have averaged $20 per foot. The 
remaining property is now held at from $12 to $25 per foot. 

At the foot of the bluff, on Prospect, near Morgan, avenue, Mr. B. F. Clarke 
has a very pretty residence, erected at an expense of $7,000. The house fronts on 
Prospect Park. This contains six acres, with serpentine walks and grass plats, 
evergreens, flower-beds and ornamental shrubbery. It makes property in its 
vicinity extremely desirable. Near Mr. Clarke's residence are neat $7,000 dwellings 
erected and occupied by Messrs. Lockore and Ingersoll. South of Mr. B. F. 
Clarke's property, a gentleman from North Carolina has just completed a good 
house worth $6,000. Col. Geo. R. Clarke has built a $10,000 residence for himself, 
on the bluff, near Morgan avenue. 

On the main ridge is to be erected a military and classical school, at a cost of 
$30,000, exclusive of the grounds, which were donated by the B. I. L. and B. Co. 
and owners of adjacent property. Prof. Norton, of New York, is to contribute 
$16,000 towards the building, and the owners of lands about Morgan Park sub- 
scribe the $14,000 remaining to complete it. The beautiful plan of this structure 
is seen in our illustration. 

A young ladies' seminary will also be erected very soon, on a beautiful site north 
of Tracy avenue. This is to cost $100,000 ; is to be of brick, with handsome ground 
surrounding it, and will accommodate two hundred pupils. Also a Baptist church, 
on Morgan avenue, for which the money is all subscribed. The town has voted 
$15,000 for a district school, and $10,000 for a town-hall, to be erected near the 
intersection of Tracy and Prospect avenues. These improvements will suffice to 
meet all the needs for public buildings. Prospect avenue is eighty feet wide, and 
graded, and will soon be graveled. When completed, it will be one of the choicest 
streets in the village. Tracy avenue, another street excellently planned, runs east 
and west through the center of the suburb. Another depot will shortly be provided 
at the Heights, to be located on this thoroughfare. The trains all stop now at the 
spot. Mr. Hitt's house, on Grove street, was built in 1872, at a cost of $6,000. A 
fine park of timber, neatly trimmed, surrounds the house, which is a gothic 
cottage, forty feet square, with addition to the rear, enclosed within 120 x 200 feet of 
ornamented grounds. Mr. Howe has two houses on Prospect avenue, worth, with 



410 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

grounds, $12,000 each, the lots being one hundred feet front. This gentleman has 
two other houses at the suburb, worth $5,000 each, with grounds. 

The Blue Island Co. built, last year, four good houses on Morgan avenue, near 
Prospect Park, worth $3,3CO each, with grounds. Mr. Hilliard has erected a $1,500 
school-house on Spring street. It is now occupied by the district. 

Mi\ Sharp has a house on Oak street, near Winston avenue, worth, with the lot, 
$4,000. 

The above are only a few of the improvements completed, in progress, and pros- 
pected, but these will give an idea of the surprising activity of the place, the excel- 
lent class of people who constitute its citizens,' and show the never-failing increase 
which always follows a liberal venture in Chicago real estate speculations. 

Four years ago, any of the lands at Washington Heights were purchasable at 
$100 per acre. Eveiy man who has invested money thei-e has realized an increase 
beyond his expectation. 

Most of the property lying in the vicinity of the main crossing has changed 
hands within the last year. 

Twenty acres at the corner of Center and Tracy avenues were sold for Hilliard 
& Hitt, in June, 1872, at $500 per acre. The next month they were resold at $800 per 
acre, and again in October transferred, by auction sales, in lots, at the rate of 
$1,800 per acre. A number of good houses are going up on this property. 

One hundred and sixty acres between Halsted street and Center avenue, north of 
Center avenue, sold four years ago at $60 per acre, is now held at $1,000 per acre. 
Along Western avenue, lands but recently occupied for farming purposes are being 
subdivided and sold in lots for building. One year ago they could be purchased for 
$300 per acre. Sales recently have brought $1,500. On this street there are several 
large houses. The best ones are owned by Iglehart and Frisby. The handsomely 
cultivated grounds about them, and the good character of the buildings, give them 
the appearance of American country seats. Mr. Frisby sold some acre property 
six years ago at $ico per acre, and believed he was getting a good round price. The 
increase since has been very rapid. 

From the top of Mr. C. Hopkinson's residence, on Tracy avenue, may be had a 
fine view of Chicago, and the lakes of the Calumet can be seen. Mr. Hopkinson 
owns forty acres of land here, on which he is constantly making improvements. It 
is worth from $1,200 to $1,500 per acre. 

From the 1st of January to the first day of June, 1873, the property which 
changed hands in Washington Heights amounted to an aggregate sum of $4,000,- 
oco. These figures are the total consideration recorded for that period on the 
county records. It is not claimed that such activity is common to all our suburbs. 

The commutation rates for travel are $60 for annual tickets, good on all trains. 
One hundred-ride tickets are sold at $15 to $17, according to the station to which 
they are given. The proprietors of the Morgan Park subdivision have made ar- 
rangements by which the residents upon their domain have their hundred-ride 
tickets at ten cents per ride for two years ; and such as can be accommodated at the 
stations to be established on the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes road (to be com- 
pleted next spring), but a mile west of the dummy track which now serves Mor- 
gan Park, are to have free passage for three years, as one of the conditions of the 
subsidy received by the railroad from the land owners along its line. 



MOUNT FOREST. 411, 



MOUNT FOREST. 

The vast territory properly denominated the vicinage of Chicago is not all prairie 
land devoid of groves and woodland, although it is the general feature of the country. 
There are a few localities favored by Nature with groves, hills, dales, and sunny or 
shady, and other rural features esteemed romantic. All these attractive features 
apply to the new suburb of Mount Forest, — and the plan of the streets and the 
subdivision into lots is made with a careful disposition on the part of the owners to 
preserve and enhance the beauty of the place and give to the purchasers the choicest 
home sites possible, according to the topographical characteristics of the place. The 
ground rises in a succession of wooded terraces from the depot, south, to a height of 
150 feet. 

The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis double track railroad runs along the shores of 
Willow Spring lake, which borders the suburb on its north line, and the station 
stands about at the center, east and west, of this line. 

Willow Spring lake, which furnishes a great part of the ice used in the city, is 
an enlargement of the Desplaines river, which reaches a width here of 500 feet, and 
maintains it for a distance of three miles. The lake is thirty feet deep, with clear 
water abounding in fish, and the vicinity is a favorite resort for sportsmen. 

Several lovely and picturesque ravines wind through the grove,- and these are 
made into parks, having wide drives on the banks, on either side. The three prin- 
cipal declivities are named Ravine Park, Wild wood and Ivy Glen. 

The tract included in Mount Forest lies fifteen miles southwest of the Court- 
house and nine miles from the city limits. Three passenger trains each day stop' at 
the station and convey people to and from the city, cousuming only forty minutes in 
transit. The territory included in the plat is 300 acres, nearly all grove land, lying 
in section 33, in the township of Lyons. It was purchased in August, 1873, by H. W. 
Fowler and H. S. Dietrich, who immediately took in other partners, and with them 
made the subdivision into lots and blocks. Several whole blocks have been sold since 
that time, at $500 per acre, and contracts are closed for lots in the choicest loca- 
tions at from $7 to $8 per foot. 

Five parks are laid out, three of which have been mentioned. The others are a 
six-acre tract lying immediately south of, and in rear of, the depot, and a handsome 
lot around the Deep Rock spring. This and the Magic spring — known for twenty 
years — have medicinal waters, said to be valuable. 

The lots on the ridge are divided into different sizes, having depths of Irom 150 
to 350 feet. Clusters of maple, elm, white oak, hickory, basswood, ash and poplar 
trees abound, and with the deeply-shaded ravines bounded by steep rocks, make up 
a scene unusual in this prairie country. On every side are views from the hills of 
the city and surroundings, and from the Government Observatory, on one of the 
most elevated spots, no less than twenty-five towns are visible. The river view is 
also quite charming. 

Mount Forest is the first suburb started on the line of the Chicago, Alton & St. 
Louis railroad, and yet the improvements have begun in earnest. Mr. Dietrich 



s>412 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



lives at Mount Forest, in a residence romantically situated on a terraced hill ; and 
Messrs. Fowler, Atkins, Munson and a number of others will build in the spring, 
gothic houses at values ranging from $4,500 to $5,000. 

For the finest and deepest lots now for sale, $10 per foot is asked, while others 
can be bought at from $3 to $7 per foot. 



CLYDE. 



Clyde stands eight miles from the Court-house and two miles west of the city 
limits. Its present plat includes one hundred and sixty acres in sections 29 and 
17, in township 39, range 13 east. 

It was purchased in September, 1866, by W. H. Clarke, of New York City, 




Clyde Depot. 



from the Canal Trustees, with deed to his heirs, for a total consideration of $1,800. 
One year ago last August, forty acres of the tract, being in the east one-half of the 
northwest quarter of section 17, was sold to Mr. Waterman, of Sheldon & Water- 
man, at $750 per acre. The subdivision now called Clyde was of the eighty acres 



CLYDE. 



413 



lying in section 29, and was made by W. H. Clarke, Jr., D. Goodwin and Mrs. H. 
G. Catlin, in March, 1872. Mr. Goodwin had purchased from the Clarke heirs, an 
interest in this 80 acres. In May following, W. H. Clarke, Jr., sold at auction thirty- 
one lots, at prices ranging from $440 to $575 each. Before this sale a number ot 




Clyde Church. 



improvements had been made, including the depot illustrated in this article, and the 
usual street work. Not reckoning the cost of the depot, these improvements have 
already cost $17,000. 

The neat little church, above illustrated, is not yet entirely finished. It is 56x32 
feet, of Swiss gothic style with open timber roof, finished to ridge pole, and with 
dormers at the sides. The auditorium is 31x36 feet, with chancel beyond. The 
church is situated on the lot south of and adjoining Mr. James McKenney's home, 
which forms another illustration. 



414 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



The residence of Mr. McKenney is at present the handsomest building in the 
place. Mr. McKenney is the pioneer settler of Clyde, having hauled his first lum- 
ber over one year ago. He built the depot then, and, securing lots on easy terms, 
began to build and sell homes. He has built several cheap houses, and a store 
building near the depot worth $4,000. He is also building three houses, one to 
cost $5,000, two stories and a half high, of modern style throughout, with fourteen 
rooms and attic above. 




Residence of Mr. James McKenney. 



The depot was erected at a cost of $5,000. It is gothic, two full stories, with 
three rooms below and dwelling rooms above. Near the depot, on a triangular lot 
bounded by the railway track and Thirty-first street, will be laid out a handsome little 
park with trees and winding walks. 

The township of Cicero is expected to build near the depot, next spring, a two- 
story school-house, to cost $5,500. The lot will be one acre in area, and is being 
handsomely laid out for the purpose with gravel walks, grass plats, shrubbery, etc. 

North of the depot, Mr. Race, D. Goodwin and Mr. Hutchinson, have handsome 
houses worth from $3,800 to $5,000 each, with lots. 

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railway runs through Clyde, and fourteen 
trains each day stop for passengers, giving ample facilities for travel to citizens. The 
Chicago & Great Western railway is projected, to be extended to Riverside, passing 
through Clyde. 






HAWTHORNE. RIVERSIDE. 415 



HAWTHORNE. 

Hawthorne is one of the suburbs of the future. It is located on the line of the 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, about six miles from the depot, or one mile 
from the city limits. The subdivision includes a tract of 240 acres, divided into thirty- 
six blocks, with twelve lots in each. The lots are 100x183 feet in size, and the 
streets are from 80 feet to 150 feet in width. The principal thoroughfares are Ogden, 
Hawthorne, and Hymen avenues. All the streets in the suburb are graded, the 
culverts built, and seven trees planted in front of each lot. 



RIVERSIDE. 

No suburb of Chicago possesses greater interest, whether from a historical point 
of view or from its picturesque surroundings, than the suburb known of late years 
as Riverside. It is unfortunately the fact that much of the attention of the public 
which has been directed to it is owing to the continued litigation in which the Im- 
provement Company, having charge of the fortunes of the place, have since the fire 
been involved. But apart from this, Riverside is worthy of some note. Some five 
or six years ago, the suburb had no existence on the charts of Cook county. The 
late city treasurer, Mr. David A. Gage, Ovvned a beautiful farm, lying on the banks 
of the Desplaines river, well wooded, with many charming points of scenery, and 
only some four miles from the city limits. Had this city been any other than 
Chicago, Mr. Gage might to-day be owning his pleasant retreat. But the eye of the 
far-seeing speculator alighted upon the spot, and the inevitable Company having 
been organized, the car of progress was speedily set in motion. The locality, 
in its natural condition, was beautiful ; and the opportunity presented for the 
artist to elaborate upon, and improve the work of nature, was unquestionable. 
The Company had wealthy and responsible men upon its directorate, whose spirits 
were speedily aglow with the vision of the bright things before them if they could 
ever realize their dream of planting on the banks of the Desplaines the model suburb 
of America. Eastern architects came and surveyed the ground, and shortly after- 
wards presented a report to the Executive Board of the Association. Their plan was 
found to be exhaustive and expensive ; it brought out with success the leading idea 
desired, of so laying out the suburb that it should practically be a public park for 
the benefit of private residents ; and, after much debate, it was adopted. 

The Company at once raised the funds necessary to proceed with the work. An 
army of workmen was engaged, and a considerable progress was soon perceptible, 
in the heavy task before them. The tract of land owned by the Company com- 
prised about 1,600 acres, and of these it was proposed to devote 700 acres for roads, 
borders, walks, recreative grounds, and parks. The New York landscape artists 
(Messrs. Olmsted & Vaux) pressed very urgently the necessity of the construction 
of a carriage road or driveway from the city to the suburb ; and, meeting assistance 



416 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

from the town of Cicero and the city of 'Chicago, the road running from Twelfth 
street directly to Riverside, 150 feet wide, was constructed. Among the other im- 
provements suggested, and carried into effect, was a complete system of sewerage, 
the supply of water and gas, the adoption of the curved line for streets, and the 
planting of innumerable trees. Riverside, before it passed into the hands of the 
Company, possessed many beautiful groves of trees — elm, maple, and oak ; but 
it was left for the standing wooded land to be utilized to its utmost extent by the 
skill of the artist. Everything likely to give the place the appearance of a resident 
park was done. Nor were opportunities offered by the curving course of the Des- 
plaines river neglected. At one place, the river encircles a strip of land, of the 
shape of a peninsula, and of about one and a quarter square miles in extent, which, 
together with a neighboring island, has been improved so as to form public parks, 
access being had to one of them by means of rustic bridges. 

Among the gentlemen who erected residences in Riverside were Messrs. Emery 
E. Childs, President of the Company ; W. T. Allen, L. Y. Schemerhorn, H. C. Ford, 
John C. Dore, Rev. J. H. Trowbridge, George M. Kimbark, L. W. Murray, Watts 
De Gollyer, W. W. Chandler, George Chambers, E. F. Nexson, John C. Cochrane, 
Charles Coryell, Dr. J. H. Hollister, W. H. Wigley, Carol Gaytes, Charles Gladding, 
W. L. B. Jenney, Watson Hinckley, M. E. Seelye, D. F. Chase, John A. Rice, 
P. Sherman, George Gilbert, and other well known Chicagoans. 

Among the other enterprises undertaken and carried to a successful conclusion 
by the Company, was the erection of a grand hotel. Pleasantly situated, with ex- 
cellent accommodation, containing a large number of rooms, and all the conveniences 
of a city establishment, it is a very agreeable place for summer resort. Connected 
with it is a refectory and billiard pavilion, and an octagon music pagoda. The 
size of the hotel will be seen from these figures : The length is 260 feet ; width, 
124 feet ; the verandahs are 1,042 feet long, and from 15 to 20 feet wide ; and the 
balconies to the third story are 368 feet in length. 

During the last two years the suburb has made little progress. Litigation, finan- 
cial embarrassments, and the reports widely circulated, and having some foundation 
in fact, of the unhealthy character of the location, have continued to retard its 
growth. The prospects of the place are better than they formerly were, and the 
persons having charge of Riverside are energetic and persevering, and, their present 
difficulties removed, will doubtless succeed in restoring the suburb to a more favor- 
able position in public confidence. There is no doubt that both the Desplaines and 
Fox rivers, lying to the west of Chicago and affording great numbers of very beauti- 
ful sites, will soon be bordered with handsome improvements, and be relieved, sooner 
or later, of the incubus that now rests upon them, viz., a reputation for ague. The 
most obvious mode of remedying the summer defluxion of these streams is by dredg- 
ing the channels and docking the shores, when flat, with the product of this opera- 
tion ; also turning into the stream the currents of numerous artesian wells along 
their banks. We look to see the Desplaines, within fifteen years, an exceptionally 
choice residence district. 



LA GRANGE. 417 



LA GRANGE. 

This subdivision, formerly called Kensington Heights, is located on the line of 
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, about twelve miles from the Court-house 
and one and a half miles west of Riverside. It contains about 600 acres, lying in 
section 4, town of Lyons. The property was subdivided and placed upon the mar- 
ket in 1871, and although for a time the proprietor, Mr. F. D. Cossett, exerted but 
little effort to sell, yet a sufficient number of purchases for actual settlement were 
made to form quite a village. L 

In the spring of 1873, improvements began in earnest. The natural advantages 
of the suburb are of no mean order. The surface is high and rolling and 
affords admirable views in every direction. Pure well water is reached at from 
15 to 20 feet, and nearly in the center of the town is an everflowing spring, of excel- 
lent quality. An inexhaustible limestone-quarry is situated near the place, and 
is being extensively worked. The streets have been opened and graded to an 
extent of six miles. One thousand shade trees of various kinds have bave been 
out about the lots and streets, besides a large number of fine fruit trees planted by 
Mr. Cossett. About forty houses are built, ranging in value from $2,000 to $8,000. 
Excavations are being made for several other handsome houses. A school-house is 
being constructed to cost at least $10,000. It is to be a basement and three stories 
high ; the first two floors will be dedicated to the different grades of the school, and 
the upper one, which is 17 feet to the ceiling, will be used as an assembly room. A 
handsome church, worth $15,000, will be immediately constructed. 

Two large brick store buildings have been recently erected and occupied with 
stocks of general merchandise. 

Something entirely novel in the way of enterprise is being carried out by the 
proprietors. They are constructing a series of miniature lakes on the slope, two of 
which will be devoted especially to fish culture. These are to be located on the 
summit of one of the ridges. They are to be oval in form and connected by a narrow 
stream of water. The third lake is situated just under the hill and near the railway 
track. This will be elliptic in shape and one of the most attractive features of the 
place. A wide drive will encircle it, which will be studded with fine large trees 
grass plats, etc. Boat and bath-houses will be erected upon its borders. A stone 
ice-house is to be provided near the track and convenient for shipping. The bathing 
house will be of stone, and will contain several rooms to which water will be con- 
veyed from the upper lakes, which receive their supply from the spring and artesian 
well. The lower lake will be one half of a mile long, and will afford ample room 
for boating. 

The large number of streets graveled from the beds in the vicinity, bordered by 
three rows of thrifty trees on each side, interspersed with handsome evergreens and 
liberally furnished with sidewalks, present an attractive feature. 

When all the improvements mentioned are complete, La Grange will have many 
sterling attractions for the settler, which will make it in the near future one of the 
most important and prosperous suburbs in Cook county. 

Messrs. Cossett & Lay and D. B. Lyman, of the firm of Lyman & Jackson, are 
27 . 



418 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

sole proprietors of all the lands of the tract, excepting that part which they have 
sold to settlers. 

The expense of annual tickets to the city by railwayis $67, and the facilities of 
transit^are ample. 



HINSDALE. 

The village of Hinsdale was originally laid out in 1866. In the year 1869 quite 
a number of houses were built and occupied, and appearances warranted the pre- 
sumption that there would be a popular place there some day. 

The village is situated on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, ten miles 
from the city limits and sixteen miles from the Court-house. The situation of the 
place is handsome and attractive, being elevated prairie-land with alternate hills and 
groves ; some of the hills rising as high as seventy-five feet above Lake Michigan. 

The first operations in building began in 1868. In that year Mr. Wm. Robbins 
built a large stone school-house ; a store, and a post-office was established, and a 
Congregational church was organized by Rev. J. E. Roy. During the next year 
building commenced in earnest ; people arrived ; increased railroad facilities were 
added, and a small hotel, and another store and meat market were built. Enter- 
prising men could afford to accept deeds of well-located acres for $200 to $300 and 
live there. A property owner stated that he was offered $400 at this time for a 
half-acre lot, which was considered the best business corner in town. Many offers 
succeeded the first, the price always increasing. 

The next year, Mr. O. J. Stough built and furnished, on the north side of the 
town, a handsome little church at a cost of $4,500, and frill maintains it free to all. 
Rev. Dr. W. S. Belch was the first pastor, Rev. A. Crum at present. The religion 
preached in this church is of the liberal type. 

The Baptists also built a fine chnrch, on the south side of the town, at a cost of 
$12,000. Mr. Robbins donated the land. The Baptists and Congregationalists 
have held union services, which were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Bascom. 

Hinsdale is well supplied with schools. The stone building erected by Mr f 
Robbins was purchased by the school district, and is now maintained as a public 
school. Mr. O. J. Stough built a large school-house, on the north side, in which 
Prof. Gleason keeps a private school. The upper part of the building is called 
Stough's Hall, and is used by club parties and for public entertainments. 

The inhabitants of the suburb at present number about 1,500. The public 
buildings, in addition to those mentioned, are a substantial brick depot on the Chi- 
cago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, a small hotel, and several stores. 

Among the prominent residents who have built themselves comfortable homes, 
the following may be mentioned : Mr. Robbins, who was the fh"st settler, has a beau- 
tiful stone villa, half hidden in a natural grove, about a mile southeast of the depot, 
which, with the improvements, is valued at $35,000. Mr. Robbins first purchased, 
in 1864, a tract of 800 acres at $20 per acre. He has platted 480 acres of this 
land, and also gave the right of way to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad 
when that Company decided to pass through the place. Mr. Robbins has sold about 



HINSDALE. 419 

320 acres at various prices. Mr. Stewart, Assistant Superintendent of the American 
Express Company has a large French roof house and improved grounds. Mr. David 
Roth owns a large and comfortable house and five acres of land covered with fruit 
trees and shrubbery, which is valued at $15,000. Mr. E. P. Hines and Mr. H. A. 
Harvey, Private Secretary to the General Superintendent of the Illinois Central rail- 
road, occupy half a block of the highest ground on the south side, and have very pretty 
houses, just alike, fronting on Washington street, worth about $7,000 each. Mr. 
John Parker, type founder, owns the second block south of the depot, and has a 
comfortable house on it. The place is considered worth, at least, $20,000. Mr. J. 
Hulauiski, chief clerk at the C. B. & Q. R. R freight office, has a neat cottage on the 
same street. Mr. C. H. Hudson (lias a handsome house, on the south side, worth 
about $10,000. Mr. George Wells, of the firm of F. D. Cossett & Co., has a very 
pleasant home valued at about $8,000. Mr, E. W. Banker has a fine house on a 
two-acre lot, on Third avenue, worth $10,000. Mr. J. L. Hines, who has 
proved himself one of the most active men of the town, by building seven or eight 
houses, has a very comfortable home worth about $12,000. Mr. H. Esterbrook, 
traveling Auditor of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, has a comfortable 
cottage home. Mr. R. Evans, of the " Chicago Times," has a very fine cottage and 
four acres worth about $7,000. Mr. A. Lincoln, of the firm of C. T. Reynolds & 
Co., owns a home-like cottage on Main street. Mr. Crocker, attorney at law, has a 
nice house and grounds in a grove, on Oak street, worth $10,000. Messrs. Chapin, 
Allen, John and Henry Reed, of A. Reed & Sons, and Amos T. Hall, have neat 
cottages. Mr. Wm. McCredie, Freight Auditor of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
railroad, has a substantial house and two acres, fine grounds, in a grove, valued at 
$8,000. Mr. N. H. Warren, and his brother, have fine houses and improved 
grounds valued at $10,000 to $12,000 each. Mr. Jerry Nottingham owns two large 
houses, in one of which he lives. Messrs. A. A. Mann, J. W. Wilcox, J. W. Saw- 
yer, S. W. Hunt and Wm. Johnson, have neat cottage homes on Main street. Judge 
Joel Tiffany has a large, elegant house and two acres improved grounds, on Wash- 
ington street, valued at $16,000. Mr. Anson Ayersand Mr. Derrickson have pleas- 
ant homes on the same street. Mr. M. A. Donohue, book-binder, Mr. D. S. Perry, 
Dr. L. Bush, Mr. Thos. Lonergan and H. Bush, have comfortable homes on Lin- 
coln street. A plain cottage with pleasant grounds, on the corner of Walnut and 
Grant streets, is owned by the mother of Congressman Tom Fitch, of Nevada. 
Mr. O. J. Stough, who is one of the principal proprietors of the town, has a plain 
house situated a few blocks north of the depot on the summit of a hill, forty feet 
above the bed of the railroad and one hundred and eighty feet above Lake Michi- 
gan, in the center of a block of twelve acres, handsomely laid out with gravel roads 
and concrete walks, and improved 'by trees and evergreens of every variety. Mr. 
Stough has proved the soil to be well adapted to fruit growing. As an evidence of 
the success that has attended his experiments, it may be stated that 15,000 pounds 
of grapes were raised on a one-acre patch in 1872. Evergreens also flourish there. 
Some of them which were planted six years ago when only a few inches high, are 
now as many feet. This little hill of twelve acres has certainly been the object of 
care. The owner has been offered the sum of $40,000, while the original cost of 
the whole farm seven years ago was but $6,000. Messrs. F. Denning, W. W. 
Wood, M. Middleton, J. W. Hath, J. O. Bryant and D. A. Esterbrook, have hand- 



420 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

some houses and beautiful grounds of from two to ten acres nicely laid out. Dr, 
Fisk, Mr. A. Pu^h, Mr. J. F. VanNortwick, Hon. Wm. M. Whitney, D. A. Courter, 
bridge builder for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, and others, have 
pleasant and commodious homes. 

The drives from the village in every direction are very pleasant, especially to per- 
sons accustomed to the monotonous flats around the city. 

The property up to a recent date has been owned principally by Messrs. Wm, 
Robbins and O. J. Stough ; but Mr. S. has lately sold out his interest to a stock 
company composed of C. E. Bruner, Benj. Lombard and others, whose policy will be 
an active one. Mr. Stough has expended at Hinsdale in land and houses, which he 
has sold on time, no less a sum than $250,000. 

In the spring of 1874, Mr. Bruner, trustee, will erect fifty houses varying in 
value from $1,500 to $2,000 each. They are now surveying the Esterbrook tract, 
forty acres, preparatory to raising the streets to grade, putting in sewers, etc. Pro- 
fessor Thayer, of Jacksonville, 111., is negotiating for the purchase of several acres 
on which to erect a ladies' seminary, which will be of brick, of large (fimensions, of 
fine architecture, and a first-class institution. 

Lots are now selling at from $10 to $25 per foot. Acres bordering upon the plat 
at from $400 to $1,000. 

There are twenty-four daily trains to and from the city. The fare is $75 per 
year and twenty cents per ride for family tickets. The distance is traversed in from 
thirty to sixty minutes from the different stations in the city. 



CLARENDON HILLS. 42 1 



CLARENDON HILLS. 

Clarendon Hills is twelve miles from the city limits, on the Chicago, Burlington 
& Quincy railroad. There probably never was a section of land (640 acres) made 
in better shape for a suburban town than the east ]^ of section 10 and west ^ of 
section 11, town 38, north range 11, east. 

The gentle swells, the steeper hills — some of them extending to a height of two 
hundred feet above the lake leyel — and the beautiful valleys, cause almost any 
man accustomed to living in Chicago to remark, as he rides over it, " Well, this is 
■charming ! " and, to the eye of a smart real estate man, seems to be just as good as 
if made to order. 

One of our most successful suburban town makers has said to us that he was 
most forcibly struck with that idea on first looking over it, seven years ago, when it was 
all farms ; and remarked to a friend that he would live to see that spot one of the 
most charming Villages abont Chicago ; and at once tried to make arrangements to 
buy it, but could find no person to join him at $35 per acre, on easy terms. 

The railroad runs through the section diagonally, leaving 370 acres on the south 
side, and 270 acres on the north. 

In 1867, Mr. O. J. Stough persuaded Mr. J. M. Walker, now President of the 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, to buy the part south of the Company's line 
for $17,000, or about $46 per acre ; and, in 1868, J. M. Walker, Robert Harris, Amos 
T. Hall and O. J. Stough, bought the part north of the railroad for $40,000, or about 
$150 per acre. Immediately after that, the entire tract was laid out in park form, with 
curved streets, and here and there small public grounds, and a large public park on 
the north line. Streets were nicely graded and planted with trees, and the idea of 
the enthusiastic originator seemed a simple consequence, or circumstance, to almost 
any one who had the pleasure of riding over the finely made streets, with the beau- 
tiful curves and undulations, and the lovely lawns, already made, and sloping grace- 
fully to the streets, on almost every acre of it. 

During the past year, Messrs. Holmes & Co. have purchased the larger part of 
the south side, for about $300 per acre, J. M. Walker reserving about twenty acres 
for a country seat for himself, and Dr. F. H. Walker about ten acres, on which he 
has a large and comfortable villa. 

Already about twenty-five houses, with school and meeting-houses, have been 
erected on the south side, and, during the coming season, will be followed by stores 
and a hotel. The proprietors are offering very liberal inducements to buyers, in 
the way of prices and terms, and, with the unrivaled qualities of the lots, cannot 
fail to have a large and flourishing town. 

No lots have been offered for sale on the north] side, but Mr.'H.'C. Middaugh 
is putting them in such shape that when they are put upon the market the demand 
cannot fail to be brisk. He has almost the entire tract rolled and grassed, fit for a 
gentleman's lawn ; and the streets, a handsome, smooth grade, all lined with elms 
and maples. 

During the past summer, Mr. O. J. Stough has sold his quarter interest to H. 



422 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

C. Middaugh, for $30,000 ; and the half interest of Messrs. Walker, Harris and* 
Hall, for $50,000. Thus, the actual value of the entire section is not less than 
$250,000, to-day, or ten times the amount asked seven years ago. 

At an average of $5 per front foot, the section would figure up at a half million 
of dollars. 

Aside from the 640 acres, which is all laid out in lots from fifty to one hundred 
feet front, large provision has been made for parties who want ten-acre blocks, more 
or less. O. J. Stough owns just as beautiful land on every side of it, at the present 
time valued at from $200 to $500 per acre, in quantity. Outside of that circle, 
again, most desirable, high-rolling, rich farms can be bought from $75 to $100 per 
acre. 



DOWNER'S GROVE. 

The old and familiar town known as Downer's Grove contains about 450 inhab- 
itants, and is a place worthy of remark. It was first settled in the year 1834, by J. 
Blodgett, a Mr. Curtis, Judge Blanchard, and two or three others, and derived its 
name from one of its residents named Downer, and the large grove adjoining the 
village. It is situated in Du Page county, on the line of the Chicago, Burlington 
& Quincy railroad, 19 miles from the Chicago Court-house. The soil in and about 
the place is rich and peculiarly adapted to fruit and vegetable culture ; and being 
high, and underlaid with gravel, affords excellent surface drainage. About 350 acres 
of the village land is owned by a Chicago Company, composed of H. G. Powers, 
L. L. Greenleaf, A. C. Ducat and others, who propose to convert it into an attractive 
residence park. About twenty-five of the residents are Chicago business men, who 
find it advatageous to reside there, and who consider that the pleasures there secured 
are sufficient to liquidate the expenses incurred through railroad fares, etc, There 
are at present some 90 dwelling-houses (some of which are very good), three general 
stores, meat market, coal and lumber yard, drug store, two-story brick school-house, 
four organized churches and a fine hotel. In addition to these, there are perhaps a 
dozen other dwellings in process of erection ; and a steam mill is now contemplated 
by one of the enterprising citizens. 



THE NORTHWESTERN CAR SHOPS. 

The largest and principal shops of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad are now 
in process of erection on the Galena division of that road, just west of and adjoining 
the city limits, in the north half of section 10, 39, 13 in the township of Cicero. 

The buildings completed and readv for occupancy are a round-house, 280 feet in 
diameter, containing 39 stalls ; a machine shop, 552 feet long by 120 wide ; and a 
blacksmith and boiler shop, 402x80 feet. In addition to these, two water tanks, 
with each a capacity of 95,000 gallons, are nearly finished. The investment in 
building has thus far amounted to $350,000. All the structures are covered with 
fire-proof roofs, supported by iron columns, girders and stays. The Company has 
also put in foundations for four car shops, 302 x 80 feet each, and a storehouse 302x60- 






THE NORTHWESTERN CAR SHOPS. 423 

feet. These will not be finished until the summer of 1874, as the Company design 
to furnish this winter only the buildings necessary for repairing and supplying loco- 
motives. From the machinery now going in they will be able to duplicate every 
portion of an engine ; and the intention, finally, is to make engines entire for the 
road. The department now being introduced will employ 700 men. When the 
other buildings are added the total number of men at work in them will be about 
2,000. The flow of the artesian well on the premises will keep both of the gigantic 
tanks full and furnish all that is used for every purpose, including the heating of the 
buildings. The Company is putting in $200,000 worth of machinery, and nearly 
1,000 men will be employed this winter. 

Of course, the location of such a vast industry as this, has caused a rapid rise in 
values of land in its vicinity, and a number of subdivisions have been made about the 
Company's ground. 

The West Chicago Land Company, an association of Chicago gentlemen, pur- 
chased, in 1872, the south half of section 10, paying $1,000,000 for it, and imme- 
diately began the sale of lots ; also 40 acres in the northwest quarter of section 10 
for which they paid $40,000. George Smith, the retired banker, owned 240 acres of 
the first-named tract when the Company purchased. He had held it twenty-six 
years, having paid $5 per acre for it in 1846. In 1868, he was offered $500 per acre. 
After the location of the parks the next year, he raised the figure to $2,000 per acre. 
The Company paid him, in 1872, $3,000 per acre. They bought the tract — 80 acres 
— lying west of Mr. Smith's property, of Ohio parties, paying them the same price. 
Wm. M. Derby owns, just west of the half section described, a piece containing 140 
acres ; also 80 acres in the north half of section 15. He purchased this property 
one year ago, paying an average of $2,000 per acre. It is now worth $4,000 per 
acre. The tract of the West Chicago Land Company has about 50 houses erected 
upon it, the values of which will run from $600 to $4,500. All the streets are opened 
and graded, and ten miles of sidewalks are already built. Madison street, widened to 
130 feet, graded and macadamized, and overlaid with fine gravel, as far as the west line 
of Cicero — a distance of four miles — skirts the southern line of the Land Co. 's prop- 
erty. The Chicago & Northwestern railroad has a passenger depot at each side of the 
Land Company's interest, viz. at Fortieth and Forty-eighth streets, and the shops 
are located just north of it across the track, and extend from Fortieth to Forty-fifth 
street. Central Park is only two blocks from its eastern boundary, thus giving resi- 
dents the benefit of a park without burdening them with city or park taxes. The 
men employed on the works will, as a general thing, accept the liberal inducements 
offered by the Land Company and bring their families there to live. Thus it is 
reasonable to estimate that a population of from 8,000 to 10,000 will soon gather at 
that point. J. D. Harvey, 174 LaSalle street, is the general agent for the sale of the 
Land Co.'s property. 

Mr. C. E. Crafts, a real estate dealer of this city, owns 40 acres just west of the 
works. He has been very successful in making sales in lots and blocks from his 
property, both from its nearness to the railroad track and from its being only a little 
east of the thriving village of Austin, and but a few steps from the West Forty-eighth 
street depot. A switch is already put down on the south side of his tract, and a 
desirable manufacturing site is afforded to any who wish to purchase for that purpose. 

The two interests above noted are the only ones in the immediate vicinity of the 
works where property is now for sale in lots and blocks. 



424 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



AUSTIN. 

Austin is the first suburban point on the Galena Division of the Chicago & 
Northwestern railroad. It was laid out in 1866, having, as its projectors, a clock 
manufacturing company. Fire, however, soon brought this enterprise to an end by 
the destruction of the factory. But the location possessed intrinsic merits of its 
own, which, when once attention had been attracted, rendered its settlement as a 
suburban town a matter of certainty. Its original subdivision comprised a mile 
square ; now it has grown to twice that size. At first nobody lived in it except on 
the north side of the railroad, now there is a large number of neat cottage resi- 
dences on the south side also. There are, it is claimed, 1,000 people living at the 
place, nearly all the heads of families, who do business in the city. 

Austin is the seat of government of Cicero township, and the town-house, a fine 
brick building, two stories in height, stands in the center of a tract of four acres 
known as " Holden Park." The building contains a hall capable of seating five 
hundred persons. The cost of the structure was $25,000. Almost directly north of 
the town-hall is located the public-school building, three stories in height, with 
excellent basement accommodations, and spacious play grounds, the whole costing 
about $18,000. This has been pronounced by educational experts one of the very 
best schools in the county. The number of scholars in attendance is over 150, and 
is constantly increasing. 

The oldest organized church denomination in the village is the Methodist Epis- 
copal, the members of which have recently completed the erection of a handsome 
edifice at a cost of $8,000. It is capable of seating two hundred persons. The pas- 
tor is the Rev. Mr. Marsh. The Baptist people organized in 1871, and last year 
erected a substantial building at a cost of $7,000. Its pastor, since the organiza- 
tion of the society, has been the Rev. Mr. Alex. Blackburn. The seating capacity 
of this church is two hundred. The Presbyterian church is under the care of the 
Rev. E. N. Barrett. Mr. I. W. Bennett donated the lot at the southeast corner of 
Central avenue and Frink street — a beautiful site — and $10,000 has been sub- 
scribed toward the cost of erecting the church edifice. From these statements it 
will be readily seen that the village is well provided with educational and religious 
advantages. 

The increase in the value of real estate in this suburb has given the early pur- 
chasers a handsome profit. Good lots were to be had near the depot in the early 
part of 1869 at $5 per foot. The same land to-day would sell readily for $30, $40, 
and $50 per front foot. In all parts of the town the ratio of increase has been 
nearly as great, except in the case of some undivided tracts lying at the outskirts 
which have never been put upon the market. In Mr. Austin's tracts, lying west and 
northwest of the center of the town, some lots 120 feet square, and some 120x150 
feet, are offered at from $12.50 to $25 per foot. 

On the south side of the railroad track an active movement in real estate has 
sprung up within the past two years, and already many improvements have been 
made. Lots with from 25 feet to 50 feet frontage by 175 feet in depth, have been 
selling at prices ranging frofh $15 to $40 per front foot, according to location. 



RIDGELAND. 425 

A subdivision was recently made by Mr. C. E. Crafts, a real estate operator in 
this city, of a plat south of the railroad track, possessing graveled and sewered 
streets, and accessible from Madison street. Parties resident in Austin, or on 
the lands lying east owned by Mr. Crafts, are within easy distance of the west side 
parks. In the immediate future, Central Park, with all its sylvan beauties, will be 
•open to the residents in this suburb, free from all park assessments. 

An excellent drainage system is one of the characteristics of Austin. Sewers 
are already laid half a mile in length from west to east, and one mile in length from 
north to south ; and will be extended in both directions as fast as public necessities 
demand them. The location of the village upon a high ridge, 36^ feet above the 
Chicago river, and with a gentle slope to the south, renders the successful drainage 
of the village a comparatively easy task. 

Among the other attractions of this place is Merrick Park, a tract of seven acres, 
located in the center of the village and moderately well improved. The park takes 
its name from Mr. C. C. Merrick, who donated it for public use. 

Four years ago, the number of Austin people traveling to and from the city was 
less than ten. Trains run hourly during the day between the two points. The 
commutation rate of tickets is one hundred rides for $7.50 ; yearly tickets $50. The 
time occupied is only twenty-five minutes. 

In the eastern part of the suburb known as Bridges' addition to Chicago are 
quite a number of residences all built within the past three years. Property here 
-shows a rapid appreciation in value. 

The village government is vested in a Board of Trustees, who have the same pow- 
ers as those pertaining to our City Council. 

Among the prominent persons living at this superb are the following : Col. 
Warner, C. E. Crafts, Col. Lyman Bridges, Messrs. Sprague, Hughes, Bassett, Sher- 
wood, Barker, Hitchcock, Philbrick and others. 



RIDGELAND. 

On the line of the Northwestern railroad, between Austin and Oak Park, and 
•one mile from either of these stations, is located the young and thrifty village of 
Ridgeland. The town is three miles west of the city limits, and seven and three- 
fourths miles from the Wells street depot. The original owners of the town 
were J. W. Scoville, President of the Prairie State Loan and Trust Company, Hon. 
W. B. Ogden, Mahlon D. Ogden, Joel D. Harvey, and Josiah Lombard. The cost 
•of the tract to these parties was about $700 an acre, except that held by the Ogden 
interest, which^ was bought from the Government at $1.75 per acre. Platting was 
commenced in the fall of 1871, but it was not until May, 1872, that the first work 
of improvement was begun. The streets were then graded, maple trees planted, 
and a depot costing about $4,000 was erected. It is one of the best suburban de- 
pots on the Northwestern road. A large amount of sidewalk has also been laid, 
probably three or four miles. An artesian well was commenced, and a depth of 
1,200 feet had been reached, when the drill was lost, and the contractors had to 



426 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

sink a new shaft. The second attempt was more successful. At a depth of 1,630 
feet, a fine flow of water was reached. The well is the second largest in the 
county. 

At the present time there are some fifteen or twenty houses in the place, all of 
fair proportions, and costing from $2,000 to $5,000 each. The work of building 
new residences was carried on with energy during the fall of 1873. Among 
the parties who are now living at Ridgeland are E. A. Cummings, of the real 
estate firm of S. M. Moore & Cummings, LaSalle street ; J. Frank Richmond, attor- 
ney ; George Butters, of the firm of Wm. A. Butters & Co. ; Geo. W. Schoonhoven, 
insurance agent ; F. E. Spooner, manager of the firm of T. M. Avery & Co., lum- 
ber dealers ; Col. Kungle ; and others. 

The land has good drainage towards the south, and is forty-six feet above the 
level of the lake. The lots are 50 x 170 feet in size, and sell at from $15 to $20 per 
foot, They all front on 80-foot streets. 

Ridgeland, from its position between the suburbs of Oak Park and Austin, cher- 
ishes hopes that it may yet incorporate the two. Already it is thinking of organiz- 
ing a company to supply gas for both places, and the project of erecting a hotel is 
contemplated. Next spring it is intended to plant more trees, to lay sewerage pipes 
through the town, and mains to connect the artesian well with every lot in the 
suburb. 

The population reside, for the most part, on the north side of the railroad, but a 
prosperous settlement may be looked for on both sides. In addition to the railroad 
facilities, the suburb is accessible by three principal streets — Chicago avenue, Lake 
and Madison streets. 



OAK PARK. 

Oak Park, with its twin sister Harlem, is one of the oldest suburbs of the city. 
These towns were settled about the year 1854, and have progressed quietly, but 
surely, ever since. Both places have been remarkable from the fact that they have 
not been the subject of reckless speculation, and have in consequence acquired a 
most gratifying measure of esteem among suburban people, which bears its fruit in 
high prices and excellent society. Oak Park is some sixty feet above the level of 
the lake, and possesses excellent drainage. The water supply is obtained from 
wells, which furnish good, wholesome water, at a depth of fifteen to twenty feet. 
The subsoil is gravely, and the whole surroundings of the suburb are conducive to> 
health. 

Oak Park has always been a favorite resort for literary and religious people. It 
possesses several handsome churches, one or two of which call for special mention. 
The Congregationalists living in this suburb have in process of erection a church 
building which will cost $30,000, and in the lower rooms of which they expect to 
hold service during the coming winter. Mr. J. "W. Scoville, who lives in an elegant 
residence at the east part of the town, is one of the most liberal contributors to the 
building fund, and has been ably seconded by the hearty liberality of many of the 
residents of the suburb. The church is built of Lyons stone, and occupies a prom- 



RIVER FOREST. 427 

inent position in the village. The steeple rises to a height of one hundred and fifty- 
feet. The congregation are to be congratulated in having secured the Rev. George 
Huntington, an able divine, as their pastor. The Methodists are also erecting a 
substantial church of brick, with stone cappings, at a cost of about $15,000. The 
work on this church is somewhat more advanced than on that of the Congregation- 
alists, and the congregation expects to be able to worship in the large room within 
a few weeks. The minister, appointed by the late conference, to occupy the pulpit of 
this church, is the Rev. Mr. Strowbridge, late pastor of the Ada street Methodist 
church. The Episcopalians have a neat church edifice in Harlem ; the Unitarians a 
modest sanctuary in Oak Park. The latter place has as yet no town organization, but 
there are excellent graded schools^, and substantial buildings covering the plat. 

The sale of 'real estate in the suburb has been rather quiet during the year, no 
attempt whatever having been made to force it. Prices have ranged from $10 to 
$75 a foot, according to location. The original owner of the land was Mr. Joseph 
Kettlestrings, who purchased at the Government price of $1.25 per acre. Mr. Ket- 
tlestrings still lives in the village, and has seen his property increase in value in 
rapid ratio. Two years ago, it was sold at $3,000 per acre. The village was sub- 
divided in 1858 ; for some years, however, but little was done in the way of settle- 
ment. In the neighborhood of this suburb, land can be purchased at from 
$1,000 to $3,000 per acre. During the present season, about thirty houses have been 
built, at an average cost of $3,000 to $5,000. 

The houses in Oak Park, with very few exceptions, are substantial, large and 
handsome ; and generally they are on good sized lots. Among the woo ded groves 
which surround the town, and from which it derives its name, are to be found many 
elegant residences. Noticeable among them are those of Hon. H. W. Austin, mem- 
ber of the late Legislature ; J. W. Scoville, President of the Prairie State Loan 
and Trust Company ; J. H. Hurlburt, of the Board of Trade ; T. P. Stone, and W. 
H. Wood, trustees for the Couch estate. Among other handsome houses, are to be 
mentioned those of J. K. Russell, E. O. Gale, A. J. Cheney, J. W. Middleton, Geo. 
Sharp, Geo. Eckhart, O. C. Blackmer, Geo. Everts, J. Kettlestrings, P. Smith, A. T. 
Hemingway, real estate dealer, and others. In Harlem, Mr. J. H. S. Quirk has per- 
haps the finest residence. In addition to the clergymen mentioned above, Rev. J. 
E. Roy, Superintendent of Home Missions, and Rev. S. J. Humphrey, Western 
Superintendent of Foreign Missions, have excellent residences in this delightful 
suburb. 



RIVER FOREST. 

The three several subdivisions of the tract known as River Forest were made 
about four years ago, by Roger Fowler, Geo. L. and S. Thatcher, and Mr. Lathrop. 
The plat is 500 acres in area, located in sections 1, 2, 11 and 12, in township 3g»- 
range T2, eleven miles directly west of the city, and adjoining Harlem on the west, 
on the line of the Galena division of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. The 
station has a service of 12 trains each day. The fare is $65 for annual tickets, $12.50 
for 100 rides, and 35 cents single ticket. 

On the east shore of the Desplaines, which here takes a deep bend to the west, 



428 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

about 70 acres are laid out in private park grounds, covered with natural growth 
timber, and divided into very eligible sites for homesteads of the better class. West 
of this, 130 acres is figured with curvilineal avenues 100 feet wide, and the lots laid 
out accordingly. East of this piece, 100 acres are laid out in a park, which will be 
preserved without subdivison for ten years. This is ornamented in a style which 
favorably compares with the regime of our city parks improvement. The regularly 
laid out lots and blocks lie to the north of the portions above described. They are 
from 50 to 100 feet in width and from 200 to 300 feet deep. Lake street passes 
through the southern portion of the village tract, and is continued by a bridge over 
the Desplaines river. The public improvements consummated are a brick school- 
house, with graded departments, and which was built at an outlay of $10,000 in 
1865. On the last examination day of the county schools outside of the city, this 
was voted the banner school. A Methodist church is also about completed at a cost 
thus far of about $10,000. 

About fifty houses are completed, ranging in value from $2,000 to $25,000 each. 
<jen. S. Thatcher's house cost the maximum amount above named. Mr. Geo. L. 
Thatcher's house, which stands in the center of a handsomely improved lot of six 
acres, cost $12,000, and with the site is worth $35,000. Mr. E. W. Alexander's 
residence cost him $16,000. Among the other prominent homesteads are those 
owned by Messrs. Geo. A. Drake, Auditor of the American Express Co. ; James 
Fuller and Thos. L. Rattle, of the Northwestern Railway Co. ; James Schute, 
S. D. Tole, B. L. Chamberlain, D. W. and D. A. Thatcher, all of the American 
Express Company ; I. R. Andrews, real estate dealer ; H. Odell, Robt. Odell, S. F. 
Counts, C. O. Reed, Prof. Ford, Geo. O. Blair and Prof. Beal. 

All the untimbered lots are bordered with two rows of planted trees. The prices 
of land are from $10 to $40 per foot, according to location. 



MAYWOOD. 

Maywood is one of the youngest and yet one of the most prosperous suburbs of 
the city. It is located on a high table-land, west of and more than thirty feet above 
the Aux Plaines river, ten miles from the Chicago depot of the Galena Division of the 
Chicago & Northwestern railroad. 

The Maywood Company was organized in April, 1869. Building operations 
were begun in July of that year, and the town has been wholly built since that time. 

The population is now over one thousand. The buildings of all kinds number 
nearly two hundred. In the year 1872, 83 houses were erected — all by parties 
who occupy them for their own use. 

Aside from the location, the facilities for drainage and ease of transit to and 
from the business center of the city, the rare success of the town is mainly due to 
the financial strength and practical common sense of the Company which started it. 

There are three public schools upon the graded system in operation. The school 
buildings are centrally located ; one is brick, costing some $9,000. The schools are 
alike the pride and care of the people. 

The Congregational, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian denomi- 



MAYWOOD. 



429. 



nations have organizations and maintain services at regular periods. The Maywood 
Company, in their original plan, set apart for church purposes a sufficient amount o^ 
land, so that the avails of the sales will build all the churches. The Presbyterians 
have a neat church, costing something over $6,000. The Congregationalists 
are now building, and the other denominations are making preparations to build 
as soon as a judicious prudence will warrant them in so doing. A union Sabbath 




Maywood Hotel. 



school, of more than 130 scholars, in which all have heartily labored, has been main- 
tained for two years. 

The Mayhood hotel is of brick, four stories high, with mansard roof. It is 
thoroughly built and elegantly furnished, and is kept open during the summer and 
winter. There is no saloon in the hotel. There are several stores in operation, a 
post-office, etc. 

The streets (over 30 miles) are all made in Maywood proper. Some six miles of 
sidewalks have been put down, and a park laid out, containing 16 acres. 



43° 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



Proviso, in which Maywood is situated, has no funded or floating debt, and, for a 
wonder, has money in the treasury to meet all contingent expenses. 

The titles of the Maywood Company are perfect, and full warrantee deeds are 
■given ; but a clause is inserted in all deeds against cattle being allowed to run at 
large, and requiring buildings to be placed a given distance from the street ; and no 
property is sold by the Company except to be built upon. The prices are about $15 
per foot, and any amount of time is given, at low interest, requiring no payments 
down, nor until final payment at the end of the term. In case parties choose to 
pay part down, say $1,000, the Company will cause a loan to be made to the party 
of $2,500 to enable him to build a good house. 

Railway trains run very frequently, the fare being 40 cents ; 30 rides, $6.50 ; 
100 rides, $13.50; by the year, $70. 



MELROSE. 

Melrose, a beautiful subdivision, six miles west from the city limits, on the Galena 
Division of the Chicago & Northwestern railway, and thirty minutes ride from the 
Wells street depot, is a part of an original tract of land purchased some four years 
ago, and subdivided for the establishment of a town. The eastern portion of this tract 
was vigorously pushed forward to development, by the Maywood Company, and a 
depot was built and called Maywood. In 1873, the western portion of said tract was 
platted and named Melrose, by the Melrose Company, and this was done for the 
purpose of establishing another depot, and also for securing additional resources 
for development, thereby affording to this beautiful suburban spot double advan- 
tages in eligibility and resources, and giving it a priority and force seldom equaled 
in any other subdivision. Under the influence brought to bear upon the Melrose 
tract, and from the strength derived from its mother town, Maywood, some fifty 
residences were built and occupied by their respective owners long before the 
Melrose depot building was finished, and even before the Company were ready to 
place their lots in market. Now the town presents an appearance, both of age 
and life, characteristic only of older places ; and it has already a manufactory of 
steel car springs, employing a large force and doing a successful business. Melrose 
and Maywood are then, in reality, but one place, bordering upon the Desplaines 
river, and having the advantage of two depots instead of but one, thereby making 
their entire lands extremely eligible, and affording double resources for development 
in everything essential to a beautiful and inviting town. 

Melrose is situated on a high table land, fifty-nine feet above the level of Lake 
Michigan, and twenty-five feet above the Desplaines river, into which it is easily 
drained. Its streets are all graded, and trees are planted, and the general appearance 
of the improvements would lead a stranger to suppose that they had been in exist- 
ence for ten years. There are already at the two places three churches, one high 
school and one normal school, two hotels, one livery stable, three factories, lumber, 
brick, coal and wood yards, post-office, express office, drug store, meat market, ice 
house, dry goods and grocery stores, and shops of all kinds. Maywood Park 



MELROSE. 431 

embraces a beautiful tract of land, bordering on the Desplaines river, and is beauti- 
fully diversified by uneven ground and native trees, has two artificial lakes, is pro- 
vided with various kinds of amusement, has a music stand, rustic bridges and walks, 
and contains an observatory two hundred feet high, from the top of which may be 
seen an extent of territory for thirty miles" around, and which affords one of the 
finest views in the west. 

Ovington avenue, running northwest from the Melrose depot, is one hundred 
feet wide ; has a double row of maple trees on either side, and is the highest point 
of land for miles around. It is almost incredible to recognize these substantial im- 
provements, made within the short time of four years, and still it is easily under- 
stood when we contemplate the desirability and accessibility of the spot on which 
they are located. The population now numbers three thousand ; and the advan- 
tages offered in location and prices are making almost daily accessions to the num- 
bers already there. 

The Wells street depot, from which the hourly trains start for Melrose, is 
just across the bridge from the heavy business center, and is nearer the Court-house 
than any other depot. Furthermore, this is a double-track railroad ; hence, trains 
run regularly, without delay on side-tracks for belated or passing trains. 

The already populous towns of Austin, Ridgeland, Oak Park, River Forest, and 
Maywood, made up only of the families of merchants and business men of Chicago, 
give'us the most select class of passengers, and make it to the railroad's interest to 
run early, frequent and late trains for the accommodation of all. The Railroad 
Company has also located the turn-table at Melrose, as the end of the line of hourly 
trains, and the fare is only thirteen and one-half cents. For those who keep their 
own conveyance, and wish to drive, there is a macadamized road, a continuation of 
Lake street, and passing through the beautiful towns of Austin, Ridgeland, Oak 
Park and River Forest — being the main road to Elgin, from Central Park to Mel- 
rose depot — making an elegant drive, of not over an hour's time from the Court- 
house. 

There are excellent school and church advantages, and the high ridge on which 
Melrose is located, between the waters flowing east into Lake Michigan and west 
into the Mississippi river, affords a spot excelled by no other suburb for health and 
desirability. At Melrose and Maywood there is no funded debt and no local assess- 
ments, and the taxes are but a fraction on each lot ; unlike the excessive burdens of 
our city taxation and special assessments. 

The Melrose Company is located at 157 Washington street ; and, by application 
to D. Knight Carter, who is an extensive land owner, maps and all needful informa- 
tion may be had. 



432 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



ELMHURST. 

On the Galena division of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, about sixteen 
miles from the city, is situated the attractive vdlage of Elmhurst, formerly known 
as Cottage Hill. It has shown a rapid development during the past two or 
three years, and gives promise of becoming one of the favorite resorts of city busi- 
ness men. The place bears an attractive rural appearance, and gives an impression of 
quiet ease and homelike comfort to all who visit it. The first substantial improve- 
ment was the erection, in 1858, by Mr. Thomas B. Bryan, of an elegant country 
seat. Located on the top of a hill, with a pleasant prospect, but one fault could be 
found with the spot he fixed upon for a home ; it was devoid of tree or shrub 
of any kind. But Mr. Bryan quickly decided to help transform the scene 
and by means of transplanting a large number of all kinds of trees and evergreen 
shrubs, soon his homestead became a very Forest of Arden. The successful 
accomplishment of this feat of transplanting so great a number of large trees was 
the subject for much interesting discussion in the horticultural publications at 
that time. 

Among other residences which have also been beautified in the same manner, 
are those of I. H. Lathrop and Seth Wadhams. Both of these places bear conclu- 
sive testimony to the practicability of transplanting full-grown trees. The princi- 
pal residents at Elmhurst include the following : Lucian Hagans, John R. Case, 
George F. Rumsey, B. R. Cutler, Geo. M. Higginson, Mrs. Tibbatts, George Bates, 
J. R. Shipherd, C. Wade, G. Sawin, and others. 

Lots are valued at from $10 to $15 per foot, according to location. They have 
a uniform depth of 264 feet. An acre lot on the main avenue is worth $1,000 to 
$1,500 ; and lands in the neighborhood outside the village sell at from $75 to $100* 
per acre. Things move along quietly in this suburb, and in keeping with its one 
great feature — that of its genuine rural character, undisturbed by town-like innova- 
tions. In this, it stands almost alone among Chicago's suburbs. 



LOMBARD. 

Lombard, formerly known as Babcock's Grove, is an incorporated village, twenty 
miles west of Chicago, on the Chicago & Northwestern railway. The original 
owners of the land on which the village stands, D. C. Ferguson, Isaac Claflin, N. 
Chapin, the Williams and Smith heirs, K. Mink, J. B. Hull and others, sold to 
Isaac Claflin and Josiah L. Lombard, most of the lands now included in the town 
plat. General Sweet and H. C. Childs platted a portion of the village. The orig- 
inal Babcock's Grove was known only as the Railway Station ; and not until Mr. 
Lombard secured the lands and obtained an act of incorporation did the place grow 
to any extent. 

The part laid out and built upon is mostly high rolling prairie, but to the west 
is the beautifully wooded grove owned by Messrs. J. Johnstone, Isaac Claflin, D. C. 



DANBY. 433 

Furguson and Rufus Blan chard. This grove is also about to be platted as an addi- 
tion to Lombard. 

The inhabitants number about five hundred. There are in the village about 
sixty dwellings, one hotel, two stores, a school-house, two churches and a railway 
station. 

In 1867, the land sold at $100 per acre. At present lots of about half an acre 
sell at from $250 to $1,500. 

The Ramble estate adjoining the suburb has recently been purchased by Mr. Jos. 
Johnston, who has erected a model homestead thereon, and intends this year to sub- 
divide his lands and sell the lots for building purposes. This subdivision is known 
as West Lombard. (_ 

The residents of the village are mostly Chicago business men. The following 
are among the most prominent of the place : Messrs. N. Matson, N. S. Crush- 
ing, N. Chapin, D. C. Furguson, W. F. Brewster, Isaac Claflin, Reade, Haines, W. 
L. Rogers, Jas. F. Claflin, Chas. F. Brewster, Rev. Mr. Phelps, Chas. Phelps, W. R. 
Plum, Jas. Kelly, S. K. Cromwell, Newell, J. B. Hull, S. Churchill, D. Sheahan, J. 
Snyder, Gen. Sweet. Capt. Blake, R. L. Miller, and Messrs. Ballou, Long, Wrisley, 
Leroy, Northrop, Potter, Gregory and Barnard. 

The buildings projected for the coming season promise well for the prosperity 
of the suburb. At West Lombard, Edson P. Albee has a beautiful homestead. 
The place is remarkable for its healthfulness, being built partly on high land, 
and partly in a most beautiful grove, about one-half mile east of the DuPage river. 



DANBY. 

This fine old village is situated on the Galena Division of the Chicago & North- 
western railway, 22)^ miles from Chicago, on the skirts of a fine belt of timber land, 
which forms a crescent about it. The ground is high and rolling, the place being 
situated on two wooded ridges, with a deep glen between them. It was settled 
many years ago by people from New England, who brought to bear upon it the in- 
telligence and steady, industrious habits characteristic of themselves. At the date 
of its settlement Chicago was but a small village. Danby now numbers 500 inhabit- 
ants, and has lately received new impetus from the hegira of city residents, who 
flock to the suburbs to avoid the high rates of rent and living charged in the city. 

In the center of the glen stands a neat church edifice, and above it, on the ridge, 
is an excellent school-house. Delightful building sites can be secured at from $100 
to $500 per acre, according to their proximity to the depot. Fourteen trains, run- 
ning on a time-table adapted to the wants of city workers, call daily at the station, 
and the commutation rates are fixed at a figure liberally discounting the regular rates 
of fare. The running time between Chicago and the station at Danby is fifty-three 
minutes. The farming country about the place sends more produce to this depot 
for transfer to Chicago than is forwarded from any other point east of the Fox river. 

Mr. W. C. Newton, whose father, Dr. L.*R. Newton, was the oldest settler and 
the largest landholder in the place, and to whom these estates fell, will erect a resi- 
dence, next summer, which will cost $5,000. Messrs. Hicks, Fennemore, John 
28 



434 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Walls, Dr. Tongue and others, will also improve their home sites by building hand- 
some houses in the spring. Mr. H. W. Phillips is engaged in adding to his excellent 
improvements already completed. Col. James H. Meyers is busy with his scheme 
for constructing a mammoth hennery — the first of its kind near Chicago — and has 
sent to Europe for his plans. Messrs. Emmans & Morrison are engaged in re-con- 
structing the Danby House for business purposes. Mr. Miles Allen's house, at the 
corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Main street, is surrounded by very tastefully laid 
out grounds. Mr. James Ward has a substantial brick residence and handsome 
grounds. Mr. W. H. Jacobs has finished an elegant cottage near his residence, 
which is of the same class of architecture. Mr. L. C. Cooper is putting up a neat 
gothic residence on the edge of the grove ; and Mr. Hicks will shortly build a new 
wagon manufactory and residence. Mr. W. L. Emmans, a merchant of the place, 
has one of the prettiest homes in the village. Messrs. Fennemore, Churchill and 
Cox are about to erect handsome dwellings. Messrs. W. H, and M. H. Wagner 
each have attractive residences fronting south on Pennsylvania avenue. Mr. F. B. 
Angel has a cozy homestead, embowered in evergreens and shrubbery, just south of 
the depot. 

Opposite the church, on Main street, is the residence of Mr. C. A Phillips, real 
estate dealer, of Chicago. He has made a subdivision near the station, and offers 
fine inducements to those who purchase with a view of actual settlement and im- 
provement. 

Mr. J. S. Dodge has just finished and is about to occupy a two-story residence ; 
and the Postmaster, Mr. J. H. McChesney, has completed and occupies a large and 
attractive residence. 



HUMBOLDT. 

This^ village, four miles from the Court-house, is destined, under the vigorous 
management of Mr. Henry Greenebaum, the leading German banker of Chicago ; 
and Mr. Chas. Proebsting, President of the Humboldt Park Residence Associa- 
tion, to take rank among our leading suburbs at an early day. An excellent arte- 
sian well is sunk,, and a beautiful and extensive park about completed. 

The place had its origin in the operations of the Association, commenced in 
1872, by the purchase of forty acres in section I, 39, 13, for $180,000. The tract 
was originally owned by Alexander White, who, in 1855, paid the Canal Trustees 
$1,080 for it. It was sold for $60,000, cash, in 1870 ; and in two months thereafter' 
to F. Arnold & Co., for $100,000. The Association purchased of these last named 
parties. It was disposed of to the members, in lots, for $500 each, in the following 
manner : An auction was called for, choice of localities and premiums were 
paid for, one- half of the lots amounting to an aggregate sum which, when equally 
divided, reduced the cost to the Association from $500 to $350 for each lot. This 
saving is applied to reducing yearly payments. 

The above described property is the first series in the division of lands. The 
Association has 1,200 feet front on Humboldt Park. The second series lies north 
of the park, between Humboldt boulevard and California avenue, and contains 



KELVYN GROVE. 435 

about twenty acres. The manner of distributing the lots is similar to that followed 
with the first series. The lots belonging to members of the Association now range 
in value from $40 to $70 per front foot. Humboldt station is situated in the second 
series, on the Chicago & Pacific railroad, and has four passenger trains each day. 
An effort will be made to annex the second series to the city, next spring. This lies 
just beyond the northern limits now, and ought to be incorporated within the city. 
The inhabitants are anxious to have the gas and water improvements, and will pay 
for them cheerfully. 



KELVYN GROVE. 

Kelvyn Grove embraces an area of something over seven hundred acres of land, 
in sections 27, 28 and 33, township 40, range 14, and is located about four miles 
from the center of the city, being only half a mile from the western city limits. 

A large portion of the property has been recently platted by the owner, Hon. S. 
S. Hayes. Most of it is high ground, lying from twenty-five to eighty feet above the 
water level. The surface is agreeably diversified with native groves. The aspect of 
the place is picturesque and attractive, and the plan of subdivision the result of 
great skill and study. The main feature of this plan is a boulevard, two hundred 
feet in width, extending for three miles through the property ; and every alternate 
street is one hundred feet wide, with a building line thirty feet from each side. The 
lots are large, and of unusual depth, and will be continually beautified from the ex- 
tensive nurseries owned by Mr. Hayes, and in which he has over one hundred thou- 
sand trees of choice varieties. 

Kelvyn Grove has the advantage of three railways to the city — the Chicago & 
Pacific, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and the Chicago & Northwestern roads, on all of 
which trains will be run at favorable rates and hours. It can also be reached by 
carriages from the city over several pleasant drives : Humboldt boulevard, Grand 
avenue, and other improved streets. 

For some time past, several Scotch families have resided on a portion of the 
land, and gave it the name of Kelvyn Grove. Mr. Hayes adopted this name for the 
whole suburb when he laid out the plat. 

Five thousand trees have already been set out in regular and beautiful order along 
the lines of the streets, and on the lots. A. considerable number of important im- 
provements are projected, in addition to those completed. Among them will be the 
erection of two churches by Mr. Hayes, and a school-house ; the setting out of 
additional shade trees, and the laying out and graveling of streets. When all this 
is done, and the lots put upon the market, doubtless the new settlement will attract 
a great deal of attention, and be speedily filled up with the homes of a high-toned 
population, such as the place is likely to attract thither. 

The price of lots will be from $15 to $20 per front foot, and very favorable 
terms will be given to those who purchase to build. Mr. Hayes has owned the tract 
for many years, and will put it upon the market this winter. 



436 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



PACIFIC. 

The plat of this place was made but recently, and as yet there is but little 
growth to be noticed. It has a very advantageous location, only one mile west of 
Humboldt Park, and contiguous to the thriving settlements which have sprung up 
like magic around that splendid improvement. With the suburban trains passing 
through the plat, will soon come a population which will place it far in advance of 
its present status of development. Messrs. Warren, Keeney & Co., Judge Gookins, 
and J. F. Sinclair & Co., have abundant confidence in the early and rapid settle- 
ment of the plat, and to this end, have, at a large outlay, opened up streets, planted 
trees, sunk an artesian well, and built a handsome depot. The present area of the 
place is 160 acres, and the lots and blocks are held at prices which can hardly fail 
to take. 






GALEWOOD. 

In the year 1838, Abram Gale bought at a nominal price 320 acres of land, being 
the southeast quarter of section 31, 40, 13, and the southwest quarter of section 32, 
40, 13. It was cultivated as a farm until last year, when the Chicago & Pacific 
railway decided to run through its borders, and then Mr. Gale sold that road a half 
interest in the property. It was immediately subdivided and christened Galewood 
in honor of its old landlord, and in consonance with the character of the land, which 
lies in the midst of a fine grove, sixty to eighty feet above, and overlooking Lake 
Michigan. 

The plat is situated only two and one-half miles from the city limits, and has 
many natural and added attractions about it wh ich commend it to public favor. 

Among the improvements completed are two fine houses, erected and owned by 
Mr. Gale, which cost respectively $4,000 and $8,ooo. Mr. C. P. Kellogg, of the 
firm of C. P. Kellogg & Co., wholesale clothiers, is erecting a first-class residence at 
a cost of $25,000. He will improve his spacious grounds in a way to correspond 
with the style of the house. With his homestead he has enclosed an eighty-acre 
tract which he recently purchased. Mr. Gale is realizing from $5 to $25 per foot 
for lots on his property. A neat station is erected, and all trains stop for passengers. 



MONT CLARE, 

Situated nine miles from the Court-house, on the Chicago & Pacific railroad, is 
seventy-one feet above the lake. Its prospects of becoming a new suburban town 
is flattering. An old Galena gentleman, Judge I. K. Piatt, now doing business in 
this city, has in process of erection a fine residence, and talks in the most sanguine 
way about the rush of neighbors that he expects to see flocking around him in the 
course of a few years. 



RIVER PARK. 437 

Messrs. Snyder & Lee, the well-known real estate men, whose office is in the 
Nixon Block, have taken a heavy interest in this suburb, and are men of sufficient 
means and enterprise to push it through to success. The prospected improvements 
to be made before next spring, so that the property may come fairly on the market, 
include the planting of shade trees, the grading of streets, and the erection of a 
■nice brick depot. The land is naturally rolling, and offers an excellent location 
for a suburban town. 

Lots are selling at from $250 to $500 to parties who will build. The original 
price paid on the 178 acres included in the plat was $1,000 an acre. 

Mrs. Sayers is about building a handsome residence, and before winter closes 
in, it is expected there will be three or four other houses erected. 



RIVER PARK. 

River Park, one of the newest of Chicago's suburbs, and one of the promising 
series, situated on the line of the Chicago & Pacific railroad, lies 12 miles from the 
Court-house, and 6 miles from the city limits. It bears the same relation of distance 
and position to the northern part of the city that Riverside does to the southern. 

The land from which the village plat of River Park has been carved is a part of 
Laframboise Reservation, a division of territory granted to Claude Laframboise in 
the treaty of 1829. It was through that treaty that the United States obtained the 
title from the Indians of a very 1 arge part of what is now Northern Illinois. These 
lands were granted by the various tribes only on condition that certain choice tracts 
should be reserved to various chiefs and others, and of those tracts this reservation 
was one. Laframboise long ago journeyed toward the setting sun, along with the 
tribes whose blood had mingled with that of his French ancestors, but many of the 
grand old trees on his reservation have been spared from the woodman's axe, so that 
the natural beauty of the place which attracted the first quasi civilized owner is 
preserved for the use and delight of those who are succeeding him. 

The river at this point flows with a gentle but decided current, between banks 
that rise, sometimes gradually and sometimes abruptly, to the height of fully 20 feet 
on either side. On the east, for over half a mile from the river, stretches the 
forest ; while to the west, after leaving the timber that skirts the banks, is a high 
and undulating prairie, broken by ravines running at right angles with the river, 
and serving the double purpose of giving beauty to the landscape and affording a 
thorough and rapid drainage to the town. 

To beautify those portions of the town not already furnished with ample shade, 
nearly 6,000 forest trees, of the best varieties, have been planted. They include 
elm, maple, walnut, ash, birch, willow, poplar, and wild cherry, and are so placed 
as to give a distinctive character to each street and avenue, which is therefore named 
after the kind of tree composing the street line of each. 

River Park can also justly assert its title to its name in that it has two public 
parks.^one of five acres surrounding the railway station, and one of twenty acres of 
most beautiful land, lying on both sides of the river, and extending entirely through 
the town from north to south. The river meanders irregularly through it, and the 



438 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

banks, sometimes abrupt and sometimes [sloping, and broken by the ravines of 
which we have spoken, furnish greater natural advantages for the art of the land- 
scape gardener than almost any other locality in our entire system of suburbs. In 
this park, also, are some of the largest trees, noble elms, 10 feet in circumference* 
which must have stood for at least 200 years. It is also proposed to put down three 
artesian wells in the two parks, the flow of which turned into the meandering ravines 
will be so managed as to form beautiful little cascades as it runs through the ravines to 
the river. These wells ought to discharge not less than two million gallons of water 
per day, which, with proper appliances, will raise the summer level of the river not 
less than three feet, and this, added to the natural current, will make the Desplaines 
— if indeed anything were needed to that end — a most delightful and romantic 
stream. 

Another point "of attraction enjoyed by River Park is the splendid river drive. 
This is a hard and excellent road extending through the skirting trees for miles both 
above and below the town, on the west bank of the river. Passing sometimes on 
the edge of a perpendicular bank 20 feet above the water, and sometimes separated 
from the river by woods and grassy mounds, and frequently crossing romantic little 
ravines filled with trees, among which the rabbit and the squirrel hide, this drive 
furnishes a delightful relaxation from the heat and cares of the city. 

River Park is also worthy of note on account of the altitude of its site, being 
48^ feet above the level of Lake Michigan, — an altitude scarcely excelled anywhere 
within the same distance from Chicago, perhaps Norwood Park and Mont Clare 
being the only exceptions, while all our other suburbs are nearer the level upon 
which the city stands. The quality of the soil also is very fertile, thus enabling 
dwellers to at once enjoy the cultivation of flowers and shrubbery without the trouble 
and expense of creating the necessary richness of soil. 

The original plat of River Park consists of 300 acres, which was purchased by 
Messrs. Sayles & Walker, real estate dealers, in June, 1872, at an average of $240 
per acre. These gentlemen, recognizing the demand for larger lots than are found in 
many other suburbs, have subdivided their property into lots 50x200 feet, which they 
are selling at from $200 to $500 each, with special prices and terms to parties who 
agree to build and thus aid in developing the town. For instance, they have just 
sold a block of 22 lots, at a discount from these figures, to a party] who binds himself 
to erect a store costing $2,000, and to stock the same, and two houses costing $2,000 
each. The store was to be erected by Nov. I, and the houses to be built within one 
year from September 1st. To parties who are willing to contribute to the general 
prosperity, opportunity is here given to realize a large advance upon a certain amount 
of property in addition to the lots such parties are required to improve. In this 
way, everybody living at River Park has a co-interest with the proprietors in build- 
ing up and beautifying the place ; the great natural attractions of which, taken in 
connection with its accessibility and nearness to the city, and the unparalleled 
cheapness at which the lots are sold, commend it to the admiration of all. 



MAPLEWOOD. 439 

OTHER SUBURBS ON THE CHICAGO & 
PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

A number of other points than those above noted on the line of the Chicago & 
Pacific railroad are coming into notice, and will receive brief attention, as follows : 

Almira lies but half a mile west of Humboldt, and partakes, of course, of all 
the benefit of the park improvement. It is the second suburban station on the 
road, and is but a few minutes ride from business. The parties having the land in 
charge will expend the full amount required to develop all the advantages of the 
place. 

Tioga has been recently platted, and already has a number of building improve- 
ments, including a good store. A post-office is established, and an extensive lumber 
yard has been started. 

Salt Creek boasts of a cheese factory, doing a good business. A few other 
good, substantial improvements are also consummated at this station. 

Itaska also has a cheese factory, and is being rapidly settled. A coal and lum- 
ber yard is in operation. 

At Bartlett, a neck-yoke manufactory is in operation, and doing a good trade. 

Roelle is twenty-four miles from the city, and forms the center of a good 
agricultural district, with four small villages located off the road, named Blooming- 
dale, Shaumburg, Elk Grove and Addison. The people of this locality are all 
well-to-do farmers, and make Roselle their market town. Lumber and coal yards 
are established ; and a grist-mill, store, wagon and blacksmith shop are in operation. 
A large tract (1,000 acres) is being platted into lots, and an artesian well is being 
put in. The town is on on a rolling prairie, interspersed with native groves. It is a 
delightful locality, and its future prosperty is assured. There are now eight cheese 
factories within a few miles of this place, which are shipping their product to Chi- 
cago. Numerous streams, fed by springs, traverse this part of the country ; excel- 
lent pasturage is found there, and it is admirably adapted to agriculture and stock 
raising. The dairy interest is becoming an important source of revenue. 

A hotel, post-office, several stores, hay-press, wagon-shop, and a number of dwell- 
ings, constitute the improvements thus far at Roselle. 

Spaulding, Hammond, Ontario, Meacham, Windsor and Orrison are at 
present merely stations without development. 



MAPLEWOOD. 

In 1838, the one hundred and sixty acres, being the southeast quarter of section 
25, 40, 13, was bought for $200 by Maria Adams. She sold the west half of it in 
the same year to John C. Dodge and Henry Tucker, for $200. This half was again 
sold in 1844, to Samuel B. White, for $2,356.52. Mr. White sold it to Wing & 
Farlin, in February, 1869, for $52,352.83. They subdivided it, named it Maple- 
wood, and began immediately the sale of lots. They are realizing from $400 to 



44o 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 






$1,000 per lot, according to difference in locality with reference to the boulevard. 
The first sales brought $250 per lot. They have improved the property by setting 
out elm and maple trees on all the lots, and have all along advanced money to par- 
ties who desired to build. Since the land was placed on the market four hundred 
lots have been sold, and some thirty houses, costing from $2,000 to $6,500 each' 




Powell House. 



have been finished. Most of them are in modern Gothic. L. C. Welch, architect ; 
David A. Cashman, printer ; and M. J. Whitman, insurance agent, own three of the 
finest houses in the place. An artesian well 700 feet deep and flowing 350 gallons 
of water per minute, was sunk on the boulevard by the Park Commissioners and 
Messrs. Wing & Farlin, jointly. It stands about in the'center of Maplewood. A 
store and a Post-office have been opened in the town, and business is thriving in 
both. They are located on Hoffman avenue. 

Maplewood is located on the Wisconsin Division of the Chicago & Northwest- 
ern railroad, only four miles from the Court-house. The ride is fifteen minutes 
each way, and the commutation fare only 6^ cents, or $48 per year. Nine trains 
stop each day at the depot, affording as frequent access as the present number of the 
population requires. The place adjoins the old city limits, Western avenue, and 
the improvements in gas and water privileges, grading and curbing of streets, etc.. 



MAPLEWOOD. 



441 



will soon reach its vicinity. The natural effect of this will be a rapid enhancement 
of values and consequent activity in making improvements and building up the 
place. 

The Powell estate is located between the city limits and Maplewood, and con- 
sists of seventy-five acres, lying between Milwaukee and Fullerton avenues, north 
and south, and Hoffman and Western avenues, east and west, in the angle of the 
northern and eastern extensions of Humboldt boulevard, from which it is distant 
one-fourth of a mile south and one-half of a mile east. 




Residence of W. H. Powell. 



It is a part of one hundred and sixty acres entered, in 1832, by G. M. Powell 
under patent from the United States Government. Immediately after Mr. P. re- 
ceived his title he erected an inn on the property for the accommodation of travelers 
" coming to town " from the northwest, in which direction most of the rural people 
near the city lived at that day. The old Powell house stood as one of the old land- 
marks of Chicago's cradle-days until about two years ago, at which time it was 
razed to make room for the present handsome hostelry which stands in its place on 
the south side of the tract. 

The Powell house of the present stands at the corner of Milwaukee and Armi- 
tage avenues. It was erected at a cost of $15,000 and, as will be seen by our illus- 
tration, is a neat and commodious structure, and a credit to its locality. In 1850, 
Mr. Powell sold fifty-three acres to James Morgan for $15 per acre, which Mr. M. 



442 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

subsequently sold out at different periods, realizing an average consideration of $500 
per acre. The tract is now worth $5,000 per acre. In 185 1 Mr. Powell died, leav- 
ing 107 acres to his heirs. Afterwards, in 1856, a guardian's auction sale was held, 
and forty-three acres transferred at an average price of $200 per acre. It is now 
worth $4,000 per acre. The Powell brothers, children of G. M. Powell, now hold 
sixty-three acres of the original tract above described. They subdivided it three 
years ago, and began the sale of lots at $12 per front foot. The figures now asked 
is $40 per foot, with liberal inducements to builders. 

The omnibuses running on Milwaukee avenue every five minutes have their 
terminus at the Powell house. This gives superior means of access to the property. 
The land lies forty feet higher than the lake level, and has natural groves of cotton- 
wood upon it. The soil is a black loam three feet deep, under which lies a gravel 
bed of the same depth, affording excellent drainage, and giving good cellarage. 
Water in abundance is obtained at depths of from sixteen to twenty feet. 

The blocks are all surrounded with good fences and rows of planted trees, and 
a large amount of sidewalks is being put down. The settlement on and around the 
property consists mostly of Americans. A few wealthy Germans have substantial 
houses on pretty lots, and, in fact, most of the people are in good circumstances and 
have homes of a like character. 

The residence illustrated, belonging to one of the Powell brothers, is a first-class 
frame structure costing $8,000, located on Western avenue on a five-acre lot, which 
is covered with fruit and shade trees. Mr. P. sells from 500 to 600 bushels of cher- 
ries from his trees every year. The land and improvements are held worth $100,- 
000 ; an offer of $75,000 was recently refused by Mr. Powell. 

Among the persons having the most prominent improvements on their property 
are Samuel Smith, F. Hunneman, Frank Bals, J. Ralf, E.. Frederick, John Austin, 
Geo. Kline. P. P. Powell and others. The proprietors built, last year, on Hoffman 
avenue, four Gothic houses, and sold them all before they were completed, obtaining 
the full value set upon them. A number of parties are under contract to build in 
the spring of 1874. A good, brick school-house is being built, and will be com- 
pleted in a few months at a cost of $15,000. 

The reader will conclude from the above facts that the locality possesses many 
advantages not common to all our vicinage. Its nearness to business is a decided 
desideratum. 



IRVING PARK. 

Irving Park, situated on the Wisconsin Division of the Northwestern railway, 
two miles north of the city limits, ranks very high among Chicago's suburbs, both 
with respect to the natural advantages of its site, and the extent and character of 
the improvements already achieved. 

The location may be more exactly specified as being in the south half of section 
15, and the north half of section 22, in the township of Jefferson, and seven miles 
from the Court-house of Chicago, either via the Northwestern road, or via Mil- 
waukee avenue. 

The impression which the visitor to Irving Park receives, on landing at the sta- 






IRVING PARK. 443 

tion of the Northwestern road, is an exceedingly pleasant one — most assuredly not 
derived from the station building itself, or its surroundings, which are, like most of 
those belonging to this road, mean and meagre. Standing upon the platform of the 
station, however, he takes in at a glance of the eye some sixty houses of unexcep- 
tionably neat pattern, and almost endless variety. The most conspicuous are those 
of Mr, Charles T. Race, father of Mr. Richard T. Race, the active manager of the 
enterprise ; and that of the heirs of J. S. Brown, one of the early proprietors, who 
died lately. Both these houses are of large size, of the Italian villa style of archi- 
tecture, and, as to material, of red brick. The cost of the Race mansion, with the 
very elaborate ground improvements now going forward, is about $20,000 ; that of 
the Brown mansion, about $15,000, the grounds being still comparatively unim- 
proved. 

Both these elegant dwellings front south on Irving Park boulevard, a splendid 
avenue, running from the lake shore drive, at Graceland cemetery, to the Mil- 
waukee plank road, a much frequented thoroughfare just west of Irving Park. On 
this bouleuard also front the residences of Mr. Stephen A. Race (a $12,000 structure, 
of brick now being finished) Mr. Jacob M. Hepp (an ornate and capacious frame 
house, costing $10,000, recently completed), Dr. A. E. Brown, Mr. H. J. Edwards, 
and others. 

The principal thoi'oughfare, next to the boulevard, is Irving avenue, which runs 
north and south, dividing the original subdivision into equal segments. On this, 
north of the boulevard, stands a handsome Gothic church, roomy and well furnished, 
and costing $10,000 ; denomination doubtful — the American Reformed church hav- 
ing furnished the most of the money to build the edifice, but having as yet no nu- 
cleus of a denominational organization, though the Rev. Mr. Gulick, of that sect, 
ministers with entire acceptability. Nearly opposite the church is a fine frame 
house, owned by J. R. Wheeler, a non-resident. South of the boulevard, on Irving 
avenue, are seven houses, fronting east, belonging respectively to Maj. Willis, Cus- 
tom-house Auditor ; Mr. S. M. Greene, Mr. J. M. Fleming, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Frank 
Nevens, Mr. Bronson, and Mr. Chamberlain ; and averaging about $3,500 each, in 
cost, all built within twelve months' time. The finest of them is the residence of 
Mr. J. M, Fleming, superintendent of Field, Leiter & Co.'s handsome retail store. 
Nearly all this row, extending two long squares, are built after plans by Mr. 
H. Rehwoldt, who is a citizen of Irving Park, and who has been uncommonly suc- 
cessful as a designer of dwelling-houses for this meridian. The house of Mr. 
Chamberlin, one of the series named, has been ordered in duplicate several times 
for other places since its construction. 

On St. Charles avenue are a dozen or more tasteful and, in some cases, expensive 
structures. The most picturesque of them is the dwelling of Mr. A. J. Nowlan ; a 
frame structure, in the pointed style, with showy tower and verandas. There are 
also on this street the residences of Dr. C. S. Whittlesey, D. S. Pride, Esq., Mr. 
Patching, Mr. Hull, Mr. Pearson (who owns two new octagon front bricks), and 
Mr. F. F. Browne, editor of the " Lakeside Monthy ; " none of which cost less than 
$3,000. Other noticeable structures are the houses of Mr. Washington Dewey, Mr. 
Geo. Jones, Mr. Alfred Osborne, Mr. H. Rehwoldt (a well built but homely brick 
affair, the external style of which seems to suggest that the owner was busy with a 
job somewhere else when the plan was prepared), Mr. Robert Champlin, Mr. Fox> 



444 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

S. M. Davis, Esq., Mr. W. S. Warren, Mr. J. S. Quigg, Mr. Miles, Mr. Compton, 
Mr. A. Paige, and others. 

The principal advantages offered by Irving Park are, first, such proximity to the 
city as to afford quick transit, cheap fares, and an entirely practicable resort to 
horse-and-buggy or carriage transportation, or even walking if necessary ; second, 
good drainage into the North Branch (at this point a clear running stream), a mile 
and a half east ; third, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul as an alternative railroad, 
offering first class accommodation, and landing passengers in the heart of the resi- 
dence quarter ; and fourth, and perhaps chiefly, a copious supply of artesian well 
water, furnished in pipes to all householders, and flowing in sufficient volume 
(300,000 gallons per day,) to supply a population of 5,000, or double that number if 
fountains, and other like "extras" are dispensed with. These advantages, coupled 
with a remarkably pushing policy, have enabled the Races and those associated with 
them, to populate their village with surprising rapidity and enormous profit to them- 
selves, within the short period of four years, one of which was seriously cut into by 
the great conflagration. Some estimate of the profits may be formed from the fact 
that the average cost of each acre in 1869 is now being got back six times over, in 
every lot 50x150 odd feet sold by the proprietors. 

Here is the history of the enterprise in a nut shell. The ground which now 
constitutes the village plat was bought as follows : 160 acres of it in 1869, by C. T. 
Race, from one Noble, an old settler, who, having paid $2.50 per acre for it in 1833, 
thought $135 per acre as large a price as he could ask and still have a hope of 
heaven ; 100 acres by R. T. Race from John Gray, in the same year, at $325 per 
acre ; and 140 acres more by A. E. Brown and others at prices varying from $500 
to $1,000 per acre. The first year, lots were sold at $10 per foot, with the under- 
standing that the buyer should build. From that they gradually rose until now 
boulevard lots command $40 per front foot, and the east fronts on other choice 
streets $35 per foot. The plan followed by the proprietors of affording aid to par- 
ties who will build, enable them to push off many more lots than they otherwise 
would sell, and usually to get ten per cent, interest on the capital thus invested. 

Mr. Benj. Lombard purchased sixty lots, located around the lower depot, eighteen 
months ago, selecting them from the best sites for business and other purposes. He 
has realized on the forty lots since sold from $30 to $50 per front foot ; the lots 
which brought the highest figures being business property adjacent to the station. 
He paid $20 per foot for his interest in exchange for the old Lombard block. 

The northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 15, being a portion 
of the Irving Park plat, was bought by Chas. Dickinson, a number of years ago, for 
$100 per acre. In 1872, he sold his interest at from $4,000 to $5,000 per acre. 

The first addition to Irving Park was made by James Baxter in 1869. His in- 
terest was twenty acres in section 15, 40, 13. One-half of this has been sold at a 
profit of 400 per cent., and the balance of the property has increased much more 
since the erection, only two blocks distant from it, of a depot building by the Chi- 
cago & Milwaukee railroad company. 

Railroad fares to Irving Park are $7.20 per hundred and $3.50 per thirty rides 
(the latter transferable within the family), and $35 per year. These rates are 
offered by both the roads running to Irving Park, which, between them, furnish 
seven trains each way per day stopping at this station. 



GRAYLAND. 445 



GRAYLAND 

Adjoins Irving Park on the southwest, and is situated near the center of the town 
of Jefferson, on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. The sub- 
division was made in the spring of 1873, and was originally the extensive farm of 
Mr. John Gray, and hence the subdivision was christened Grayland. The tract is 
well situated, and is high and healthful, and has the advantage of a station on the 
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul r-ailroad, whose policy in passenger traffic is more 
liberal than that of the majority of the railroads leading from the city. The com- 
mutation rate on this road is an almost perfect arrangement, there being ten, twenty 
and thirty-ride tickets, besides the usual hundred-ride and transferable family tick- 
ets. The Chicago & Northwestern railroad Cut-off crosses the Chicago, Milwaukee 
& St. Paul railroad, at a point a few hundred feet northwest of Grayland station. 
The Company has decided to put on suburban trains which will make, at least, four 
trips a day. This railroad corporation has spared no expense in perfecting the road. 
It is laid with steel rails, and is handsomely graded, The rolling stock is all new 
and first class in every respect. 

Another advantageous mode of transit between the city and Grayland, is by the 
Milwaukee plank- road, a splendid drive, which passes directly through the subdi- 
vision. It is highly convenient for farmers living beyond. A resident of Grayland 
is, by this means, enabled to purchase anything which is usually furnished by farmers, 
as hundreds of wagon loads of provisions, etc., pass along the plank-road every day. 

An artesian well, now completed, supplies the entire subdivision with water. 
Pipes are being laid throughout the town, and as fast as houses are erected, water is 
conveyed to the premises. 

The station has a telegraph office and operator, which is a convenience rarely 
met with in small places. The subdivision is yet new, still with the bright pros- 
pects now before it, the place must soon become populous. 

The suburb is three and a quarter miles from the city limits. Land values have 
largely advanced during the past five years, as the following citations indicate : 
Acre property was sold five years ago at $100 per acre ; three years afterwards, 
$700 per acre was obtained, and recently $20 per foot was refused, thus showing 
that land at that point is continually appreciating in value. 

About $30,000 worth of improvements were made during the summer of last 
year. They are of a character that will tend to attract first-class inhabitants. 

Mr. John Gray is building an excellent residence, two stories and French roof, 
besides basement, in height, which will cost upward of $20,000. It is constructed 
of brick, and is elaborately finished, and supplied with all modern appliances. The 
grounds about the mansion are to be highly ornamented, and will be in perfect 
keeping with the manifold beauties of the surroundings. 



446 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



MONTROSE. 

This place is located at the junction of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul with 
two branches of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, in the town of Jefferson. It 
is distant from the Court-house eight miles, in a northwest direction. The railways 




Map of Montrose, Showing Distance From Court-House. 



have each a depot erected, at different points. Water is had in abundance from 
•artesian wells sunk in different places.. 

The suburb is one of the pleasantest, nearest and most accessible about the 
city. To show how these advantages have been appreciated, some facts connected 
with its history are mentioned. 



JEFFERSON. 447 

Eighty acres of the plat now embraced in Montrose was purchased by Dr. 
Gibbs, twenty years ago, from its first proprietor, a Mr. Kippe, for $800. The doc- 
tor, after owning it nineteen years, sold to J. F. Eberhardt, at $75 per acre. 
Three years later, Mr. John Souerbry purchased it for $325 per acre and sold, 
immediately after the purchase, an undivided three-quarter interest, to a company 
of non-residents, for $24,000, and has recently transferred ten acres of the remain- 
der to Messrs. Reynolds and Warren, for $17,000. This leaves ten acres still under 
his ownership. 

Mr. Joseph Liebenstein has forty acres on the west side of the place, extending 
along Forest and Sherman avenues and Montrose boulevard, which were purchased 
by Theobald Maurer, at an early date, at $3 per acre. He sold to Mr. Leibenstein 
for $26 per acre, about nineteen years ago. The latter gentleman is now selling 
lots at from $20 to $25 per foot, or from $6,500 to $10,000 per acre. There are sev- 
eral good houses erected upon Mr. Leibenstein's subdivision. One of the depots 
stands in the center of it, and another only a few rods away from its south border. 

The Benjamin Lombard interest is the west one-half of the southwest quarter 
of section 15, 40, 13, running north from Irving Park boulevard to Montrose boule- 
vard, and along the east side of Jefferson avenue. All the streets are graded, and 
the lots surrounded with trees and two-inch dressed plank sidewalk. Twenty-three 
houses are built upon it, costing from $1,800 to $3,500 each. A large sewer put in 
on Lombard avenue gives perfect drainage to the tract. A contract is now closed 
for the erection, in the spring of '74, of thirty-six new houses. A good church and 
school-house stand on this interest. This tract last described is a part of eighty 
acres purchased in 1855, by Timothy Fay, for $5,000. Including the sale to Mr. 
Lombard, the sum realized on this tract, thus far, is about $125,000. Lots in Lom- 
bard's subdivision sell now at from $20 to $30 per foot. 

In 1869, Mr. F. D. Cossett purchased eighty acres lying east of the railroads. 
This is subdivided, and realizes from $20 to $25 per foot. An excellent artesian well 
is situated on this tract. Montrose is only twenty-eight minutes ride from the city, 
and commutation rates are seven cents and a fraction per ride, or at a less rate by 
the vear. 



JEFFERSON. 

Jefferson is located on Milwaukee avenue, eight miles from the Court-house, on 
the Northwestern railroad. In 1855, Mr. D. L. Roberts, the owner of the lands, 
laid out and recorded a map of the village of Jefferson. Its settlement was active, 
and nearly fifty dwellings were erected at that time. Mr. Roberts died shortly after, 
and his heirs having held the property until 1868, Mr. D. W. Eldred made a pur- 
chase of the interest lying east of the railroad, amounting to 154 acres. In the two 
succeeding years, this tract was re-subdivided into lots of 25 feet and 50 feet frontage, 
and of 125 to 160 feet depth. The streets are all graded, and have shade trees set 
and sidewalks laid. The village being 70 feet higher than the level of the lake, the 
drainage is perfect. Fine views of the surrounding country are obtained from all 
portions of the tract. 



448 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

The population of Jefferson is about 800 persons, and nearly all the trades and 
professions are represented. There are two taverns, two dry-goods stores, a drug 
store, markets and other business improvements in operation. A pleasant church 
has been erected by Congregationalists, and two schools are provided. Among the 
principal residents of this suburb are Clark Roberts, Deacon Dunning, Dr. Farns- 
worth, Jas. D. Mattison, Joel Ellis, Chas. Peters, T. Shultz, D. N. Kelsey, D. L. 
Perry, N. t E. Davison, R. P. Williams and D. W. Eldred. 

The price of land in Jefferson has shown a steady advance. Mr. Eldred paid 
$100 an acre in 1868 for his purchase. Recently 100 feet of this have been sold at 
$30 per foot. The place is more a market town for the surrounding agricultural 
population than a suburb of Chicago ; though the latter function is rapidly gaining 
upon the former. 



NORWOOD PARK 

Is located about eleven miles from the city, on the Wisconsin Division of the 
Chicago & Northwestern railroad. It contains about 860 acres of land, subdivided 
in the year 1869, by a company composed of Chicago gentlemen known as the 
" Norwood Park Land and Building Association." This Company had the exclusive 
control of the place for three or four years, during which time many improvements 
were made. 

The work accomplished while the village was under the jurisdiction of the 
Company alluded to consisted of laying out and perfecting streets, constructing 
sidewalks, planting shade trees and building houses. It was managed by a board of 
trustees, composed of John F. Eberhardt, Jas. E. Tyler and George Field. This 
Board was compelled, by agreement, to build twenty houses, which they did ; and 
from the time of the completion of these dwellings the success of the place was sub- 
stantially established. The property was placed in the hands of many different 
agents ; the agency of Mr. L. Hodges proving the most effectual, he having trans- 
ferred more of the property than any of the others. The suburb has become popular 
with suburban buyers, by reason of the excellent improvements already consum- 
mated, the eligibility of the lands, and the healthfulness of the locality. The plat is a 
beautiful ridge of considerable elevation, and overlooks many miles of country. The 
consequent gradual slope from the apex furnishes a perfect drainage. The plan of 
subdivision is tasty and pleasing, and is the result of a careful study of the topog- 
raphy of the land. The streets are laid out both rectangular and curvilineal — the 
idea being to provide the most pleasant residence sites for parties who are able to 
build handsome mansions upon them, and add the appliances of art and taste to the 
natural attractiveness of their grounds. 

At the time of purchase, the price paid was from $100 to $125 per acre. The 
land is now being sold at from $10 to $35 per front foot, or from $2,500 to $8,750 
per acre. In the plan, a number of fine parks are laid out, and form an impor- 
tant and attractive feature of the place. One of these, five acres in area, is situ- 
ated on West Circle avenue and Colfax place ; a second, of the same extent, on 
Myrtle avenue and Grant place ; another in a circular form, 400 feet in diameter, in 



NORWOOD PARK. 



449 



the center of which is the neat depot building ; and another around the elegant hotel 
building illustrated with this article. All these parks have been made the objects of 
considerable outlay, and are handsome in plan, and in improvements made upon 
them. 

The hotel was erected by the Association at an expense of $10,000. The grounds 
about it are very handsomely improved. The structure is supplied with water in 
abundance and of excellent quality by the artesian well sunk for that purpose. 




Norwood Park Hotel. 



The American Reformed Society has a $10,000 church edifice on Mulberry 
avenue, and the Baptist congregation have a handsome building, which cost $2 000 
on the corner of Vine and West Circle avenues. These churches are certainly'of a 
better class than those generally found in suburbs of so recent an origin. 

_ At the corner of Walnut and Chestnut streets stands a good brick school-house, 
with accommodation for 150 scholars. 

The building improvements are at present situated almost entirely on the south 
side of the railroad track, though the north side is equally as eligible, and a company 
has been formed, with an authorized capital of $100,000, for the purpose of improv- 
ing this portion of the town plat. The officers are John F. Eberhardt, President • 
C J. Corse, Secretary ; and George Dunlap, Treasurer. Their title is the Norwood 
29 



450 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

Park Building Company, and, as the name implies, their plans are to erect build- 
ings for settlers and make other improvements requisite to the success of their ven- 
ture. 

The commutation rates of railway fare are 13 cents per ride, or $68 for annual 
tickets. 

The values of the dwellings — of which there are a large number built and occu- 
pied — range from $2,500 to $6,000 each. A number of our own business citizens 
have chosen this suburb for a home. 

Among the residents are the following well-known Chicago business men : 
George Dunlap, L. B. Shephard, F. H. Seymour, M. D. Stevens, C. J. Corse, John 
F. Eberhardt, Pleasant Amick, B. Holbrook, L. C. Collins, James Guilbert, R. Pol- 
lock, D. H. Lincoln, C. J. De Berard, Frank Duck, M. Winchell, A. D. Reid, G. H. 
Thayes, H. V. Reed. 

Thos. Wilson purchased at various times numerous blocks on the north side of 
the railroad track, at prices ranging from $3 to-$5 a foot, and in 1873 laid out and 
platted a new subdivision, known as "Wilson's re-subdivision of blocks 75, 76, 77,. 
83, 84, 85, 86, 92, 93 and 94 in Norwood Park," containing 404 lots. About half 
of these have since been sold at prices ranging from $7 to $11 a foot, and the re- 
mainder are firmly held at prices still higher. Mr. Wilson has also purchased block 
67, and re-subdivided it. This is a large and beautiful block, high, and near the 
railway depot. The property of the Building Company adjoins this. 



RIDGELAWN. 






This place was, until recently, known as Canfield. The first purchasers of the 
tract, the Illinois and Wisconsin Land Company, paid $21 per acre some twenty 
years ago. The Company laid out the three hundred acres included in the plat, 
into lots and blocks, with the intention of making a town. The crisis of '57, and 
the failure of the railway project, on which the operations were based, caused the 
abandonment of the plan, and the land was sold at from $40 to $50 per acre. Thus 
the subdivision remained at a stand-still until the summer of 1873, when Mr, A. C. 
Badeau purchased sixty-five acres of it at $600 per acre, and rechristened his 
interest Ridgelawn. The name is appropriate, as the suburb lies on the dividing 
ridges on the line of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, fully ninety-five feet above 
the lake level, in full view of the thriving villages of Norwood Park and Park Ridge, 
and only a short distance from either. Its distance from the city is eleven miles. 
Messrs. A. & L. S. Pierce have held a heavy interest in this place, which is now 

owned by Mr. Geo. H. Pierce. All the proprietors are about to improve on a large 
scale. 

Mr. Badeau will build several fine houses immediately, and will open up and 

grade streets, lay sidewalks and plant trees. He will include in his building oper- 
ations a handsome residence for himself. Mr. Pierce has already done a great deal 
of grading and tree-planting on the tract owned by him, and will build a number of 
houses in the spring. 



PARK RIDGE. 45 I 

Among the advantages peculiar to this suburb is its easy walking distance from 
the schools and churches of Norwood Park and Park Ridge. The slope each way 
from the top of the ridge affords excellent drainage, and consequently insures a 
healthy atmosphere. Great inducements are offered by all the owners to parties 
buying under obligation to build. The railway fare, by the year, amounts to II 
cents a ride, and six trains stop each way. A handsome park is being laid out near 
the depot grounds. Excellent and never failing water is obtained at depths of from 
20 to 30 feet from the surface. The high and dry nature of the soil is favorable to 
good cellars, and the effective arrangement of grounds. Artesian wells will be sunk 
without delay, from which pipes will be run to any part of the town. 

c 

PARK RIDGE. 

This eligible suburb is on the Wisconsin Division of the Chicago & Northwestern 
railroad, about thirteen miles from the Court-house. It is situated on the dividing 
ridge between the waters of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river, and has an 
altitude of one hundred and thirty feet above the lake. Owing to this altitude, it is 
especially noted for the salubrity of its atmosphere. It is especially exempt from 
malarious diseases, and, in the seasons most remarkable in ague history, it wholly 
escaped the attacks of the shaking demon. In common with most of the suburbs 
of Chicago, the land was, in the first place, pre-empted and occupied as farms. The 
first owners were Mancel Talcott, Joseph Mitchell, Josias Warner, Stephen Selker, 
and Mr. Balo, a German. 

Away back in 1855, when the railroad was located, a brick manufactory was 
started on the present location of Park Ridge, and the unpoetical founders con- 
tented themselves with the dull, practical name of Brickton. But the manufacture 
of bricks proceeded equally well in a hamlet of that name, and, until the occur- 
rence of the great fire, Brickton supplied a large quantity of the red bricks which 
were sold in the Chicago market. With the fire there came a change — not that 
the demand for bricks was less, but that the call for good, healthy suburban residence 
property was more. Brickton shook itself up, and merged into a new name — Park 
Ridge — one of the best located, as also one of the most promising of ihe city's 
suburbs. 

The original plat of Brickton comprised only one hundred and sixty acres ; but 
since the name was changed, large additions have been made, chiefly by Leonard 
Hodges, Esq., J. H. Burns, and J. H. Butler. The village was recently organized, 
with corporate powers and privileges, and now includes some twelve hundred acres 
of choice lands. The sentiment of the people being decidedly adverse, there has 
not, since the settlement of the village, been a single saloon or tippling-house tol- 
erated within its borders. Following this, perhaps almost necessarily, the society 
of Park Ridge is first class, and its members all reputable, religious and law- 
loving people. They appreciate so well their pleasant country retreat, that they 
are decidedly adverse to allowing any objectionable element to obtrude therein. 
Hitherto they have succeeded, and the future is not likely to see any change in this 
respect. 



452 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

The town possesses excellent school facilities, a properous Methodist church, 
a Congregational society, and two well attended Sabbath-schools. There are two 
or three stores ; blacksmith's and carpenter's shops ; a lumber, wood and coal yard ; 
and a planing mill. A large and extensive manufactory of brick, drain tiles and 
pottery is in operation ; and excellent supplies of building material are to be ob- 
tained on the ground. 

Among the chief improvements which have been recently completed, must be 
mentioned the elegant suburban hotel structure, erected, at a cost of $15,000, by L. 
Hodges, Esq. The hotel occupies a square, being sixty feet in width by sixty feet 
in length, and is built in the favorite Gothic style of architecture. This hostelry 
is located near the depot, and is surrounded by handsome parks, from which graveled 
drives lead to all parts of the suburb. Mr. Hodges purchased two hundred ares, in 
1872, at a cost of from $125 to $300 per acre, and since that time has been 
offered $1,200 per acre for portions lying near the railroad track, and has refused 
the money. This enterprising gentleman has set out many hundreds of shade trees, 
has graded four miles of streets lying north and south of the railroad, and estab- 
lished two parks on his property. 

Mr, Balo, one of the original owners, sold out his interest in April, 1873, to Mr. 
Wm. E. Smith, who agreed to give $25 per acre. In the following June, Messrs. 

D. B. Dewey & Co. bought of Mr. Smith, at $300 per acre, and subdivided the 
tracts into blocks and lots, under the name of Union Subdivision. They have held 
the property at from $5 to $10 per foot. The first sales made were of ten lots, at 
$10 per foot. They were offered $500 per acre for the whole tract of forty acres, 

but refused. 

W. W. Powell bought forty acres at the Ridge, recently, of Gustin, Wallace & 
Dale, paying $18,000 for it. 

The residents of Park Ridge include many business men of Chicago who have 
generally chosen to erect pleasant, substantial residences, and to adorn the grounds 
in which the houses stand with all the talent and ingenuity that the landscape 
artist or lover of esthetics could desire. Among the residences specially 
worthy of note are those owned by G. A. Carpenter, Gilbert Hubbard, Mrs. 
Penny, A. Dickenson, R. W. Meacham, M. C. Sherwin, and J. C. Outhet. On the 
south side of the line, the following gentlemen, in addition to Mr. Hodges, have 
purchased tracts of land, and are engaged in making valuable and extensive im- 
provements : Messrs. R. Gustin, J. M. "Wallace, D. B. Dewey, J. T. Dale, and W. 

E. Smith. 






DESPLAINKS. 453 






DESPLAINES. 

This town is situated seventeen miles from the Court-house, on the Wisconsin 
Division of the Northwestern railroad, and on the banks of the Desplaines river. 
It is one of the oldest settlements in the vicinity of Chicago, and, though possess- 
ing many natural advantages, has made but little progress as a suburb until about a 
year ago. 

The first settler was Mr. Alfred Parsons, who, in the year 1847, purchased four 
sections of land on the banks of the Desplaines river at this point, two sections 
from the General Government and two from the State Government, at $5.00 per 
acre. He built himself a small house thereon and farmed the land. This house 
was for years the only human habitation for miles around. Mr. Parsons, a few years 
ago, built himself a better and larger house on the site of the old one, at a cost of 
about $3,500, in which he lives at present. He still owns 1,900 acres of the land, 
which he values at from $200 to $500 per acre. 

In the year 1856, the Illinois & Wisconsin Land Company purchased a large 
amount of territory at this point, and founded a village, which they named Rand. 
The railroad station being called after the river, "Desplaines," the post office 
" Maine," and the village, Rand, led to some confusion, but finally the name of 
Desplaines was adopted. It remained, however, but little more than a name for 
several years. The financial crisis of 1857 crippled the Land Company so that little 
was done by that concern to improve the many natural advantages of the new 
suburb. 

Mr. Simeon Lee settled there in 1859, and invested considerably in real estate, 
established a lumber business, planing mill, coal yard, etc., which he still carries 
on, Mr. Lee has displayed considerable energy in building up and improving the 
place. 

In i860, the "Chicago District Camp-ground Association " was organized by the 
Methodist churches of the northwest, and thirty-three acres of beautiful grove land 
on the east side of the Desplaines river and near the village, was purchased for the 
purpose of holding annual camp meetings. 

There are several hundred cottages, some of them handsome and commodious, 
and all of them neat looking, on the camp-ground, making quite a village. Indeed, 
the camp meetings have hitherto been the feature of the place. It is claimed that 
there were some 30,000 people present at the National Camp Meeting held here in 
1870 ; and the meetings are attended by multitudes of earnest christians every year. 

The Chicago & Northwestern Agricultural and Mechanical Association own a 
large tract of land on the west side of the river, opposite the camp-ground, where 
the annual fair of the Association is held. 

In 1870, under the old constitution, an act of incorporation was obtained for 
the village which placed all the territory for two miles square under the control of 
the town authorities, which limit includes the camp-ground. The village is situated 
in the center of the square on the banks of the river. The land is high and rolling, 
with alternate hills and ravines, covered irregularly with clusters of timber of 



454 



CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 



many varieties. The natural lay of the land is such as would render it desirable as 
a place of residence, being a high, rolling plateau sloping toward the river, giving 
easy surface drainage. The banks of the river rise twenty feet above the surface 
of the water, and the land around is about one hundred and twenty-five feet above 
the surface of Lake Michigan. Excellent water is obtained from wells twenty feet 
deep. The river affords good boating in the summer season. 




Residence of Ira Brown. 



The physical and spiritual wants are equally well supplied ; the former by four 
store?, which keep every article of family use on hand, and the latter by four well 
conducted churches — a Congregational church, which cost $25,000, and which will 
seat 750 people ; a Methodist church which will seat 600, and cost $15,000 ; a Luth- 
eran chui-ch which cost $5,000 ; and a Catholic church, costing $3,000. These 
churches are all well attended. There are four hotels, a post-office and telegraph- 
office, two good schools, and shops of every kind in the village. 

Among the principal residents, are Messrs. J. N. W. Sherman, Maj. Bradley, 
M. Southworth, Elias A. Thomas, E. G. Stiles, Simeon Lee, Theodore Tillotson, 
W. Gruss, Charles Racine, Julius Cook, Hiram Jefferson, E. Bennett, Messrs. Whit- 
comb, Jones, Cluster, and many others. 



ARLINGTON HEIGHTS. 455 

While the Land Company held the property little was done toward improve- 
ment, but that concern having disposed of its interest, and private individuals hav- 
ing taken hold of the property, considerable enterprise has recently been displayed 
dn developing the suburb. Mr. Ira Brown, of Chicago, purchased two hundred and 
twenty acres a year ago, which he subdivided into lots of twenty-five foot front and 
offered for sale at $100 each, at which rate he has sold some two hundred lots. He 
lias also built several neat cottages, which he has sold on credit, to be paid for in 
monthly installments by actual settlers. 

Several other real estate dealers have invested in the town, and are improving 
and disposing of their property by aiding persons to build. Among the best resi- 
dences in the village are those of Messrs. Ira Brown, McPherson, Thomas, Parsons 
and Lee, which cost from $3,oocrto $5,000 each. The elegant mansion which we 
illustrate, is to be erected by Mr. Brown during the coming spring. 

A fine park of two and one-half acres, running from the depot to Mr. Brown's 
addition, has been laid out and ornamented with trees. . The property owners have 
-contributed $10,000 toward improving this park, which will greatly add to the 
beauty of the village. 

The inhabitants of the village at present number about 800 ; and there can be 
no doubt but that, as property in other suburbs advances, the natural advantages of 
Desplaines will become more generally known and appreciated. At present, prop- 
erty is held at a much lower figure than at most other points of equal importance 
and equal distance from the city. 

The railway facilities for reaching the city are all that could be desired. There 
.are .eight daily trains .each way, all stopping at Desplaines. 



ARLINGTON HEIGHTS. 

(FORMERLY DUNTON.) 

Like many others of Chicago's suburban villages, Arlington Heights deserves 
special notice in this volume. It dates back to 1837, when Mr. Asa Dunton, because 
of the excellence and desirability of the land and location for farming purposes, laid 
"claim" for the sake of his sons, W. H. and James, then minors, to a half section, 
by plowing a furrow around that amount of land. In the year 1844, W. H. Dunton 
■entered the site of the original town, the title coming from the Government. In 
1853, the Northwestern Railroad was constructed to this place, and trains com- 
menced running in November of that year. The name "Dunton" was given the 
town by the railroad company. 

The original town plat consisted of 80 acres, but other subdivisions and additions 
have since been made, so as to increase the total acreage of the town to 250. This 
tract is located 22 miles from the Court-house, on the dividing ridge between the 
Desplaines river and Salt Creek, descending to the south and east. It is free from 
analarial atmosphere, and in consequence is remarkably healthy. 

Arlington Heights has not until recently assumed any considerable suburban 



456 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

importance, but Chicago parties, in connection with the Messrs. Dunton, have laid 
out a new subdivision, on which they have graded streets, constructed sidewalks*, 
set out large shade trees, etc., and already some of the purchasers are under contract 
to build, which, together with a new brick block which is to be erected soon, and' 
one already finished, gives a fresh impetus, and everything betokens a flattering 
future for the newly-christened suburb. 

As a fruit-bearing region, this section has no equal about the city. The soil for 
this purpose is peculiarly adaptable. Although it has many reasons to claim prom- 
inence as a business and manufacturing town, its fruit-growing tendencies are some- 
thing of no small moment. In and about the village, for it has grown to be suchy 
may be seen some of the finest orchards and vineyards in the State. Cherries, apples, 
pears, berries, grapes, and the like, abound in profusion ; while the dairy and 
vegetable business is carried on to a considerable degree. 

Its most attractive feature is to be found in the depot grounds, which consist of 
20 acres, laid out and fenced off into romantic parks, ornamented with shade, ever- 
green trees, and shrubbery in great variety. 

The original proprietors of the place, after contributing largely towards the 
general improvements, stopped for a time to see what the result of their labors would 
bring forth. They felt confident that the beauty and natural advantages of the lo- 
cality would, in time, prove to them that their town would become not only popular 
but populous. The purchase of Mr. Chas. H. Atkins was the first to prove the cor- 
rectness of the prediction. Mr. Atkins is of the firm of Atkins & Burgess, Vulcan 
Iron Works, of this city. His was a purchase of 75 acres, some years ago, paying 
at the rate of $40 per acre. The same land is now worth $200. Again, recently, 
Messrs. Bigsby & Mitchell bought a number of acres of the original plat, and have 
since subdivided them. These purchases seemed to give renewed vigor to all con- 
cerned, and the whole village has been materially improved. Among the improve- 
ments most worthy of note are Messrs. Bray & Bros.' three-story brick store build- 
ing ; the Higgins' carriage manufactory, a large and conveniently arranged two-story 
brick structure ; and a two-story building for Mr. Hurson. The material is on the 
ground for the erection, next spring, of a large three-story brick block by the Messrs. 
Tage & Co. and Lutge & Co., which will be an ornament to the place. Mr. Bloom 
contemplates building a large addition to his hotel. Mr. J. M. Olmstead contem- 
plates building a very fine mansion at an early day. There are two large grain* 
elevators in the town, owned and conducted by Messrs. Tewksbury & Peter and 
Johnson & Guile. Both firms are doing a large and prosperous business. Mr. David 
Peter is the pioneer in that line, having erected the first elevator. At the extensive 
carriage and planing establishment of an old and respected citizen of the place, Mr. 
John Fleming, a large number of workmen are engaged the year round. 

Adjoining the village, Mr. W. H. Dunton and Mr. David Peter have each an. 
elegant farm, which are places of considerable interest. The soil is admirably 
adapted to fruit culture, which is carried on by them to considerable extent. The 
great abundance of evergreens naturally tend to give beauty to the surroundings, 
and the farms are considered two of the best in that section of the country. 

Mr. James Dunton owns a very fine farm of 200 acres, which is in a high state of 
cultivation. His building site is ornamented with- evergreens, shade trees and 
shrubbery. 






ARLINGTON HEIGHTS. 



457 



There are about 150 dwellings in trie place, some of which are homelike and 
handsome. Around many of the better residences are from one to five acres of land, 
all well improved. Prominent among them are those of Mr. Amaza Allen, Mr. 
Joseph Kennicott, Mr. Macnab, Mr. Sherra, Mrs. Kennicott, Mr. Burlingame, Mr. 
J. Peter, Mr. John Fleming, Mr. Newhall, Mr. Loomis and Mr. Thurbor. 

The residence of Mr. Chas. H. Atkins deserves special mention. It is Mr. 
Atkins' country home, and is known as " Spring Lawn," which is an appropriate 




Chas. H. Atkins' Residence. 



name, taking everything into consideration. Though the house itself is not an elab- 
orate affair, yet the surroundings are such as to make up one of the most desirable 
homes that could be imagined. The grounds enclosed about the house consist of 
10 acres, and are beautifully ornamented with shrubbery and trees. In the enclos- 
ure stands a handsome pagoda, erected over an artesian well, which flows 120 gallons 
of pure water per minute. The well is 640 feet deep, and the water is free from all 
unwholesome and obnoxious tastes. The grounds are exceedingly artistic in all 
their appointments. Adjacent to his residence site is an orchard of 15 acres, con- 
taining every variety of fruit trees, and the choicest of fruit is grown in great abun- 
dance. He has also a deer paddock, in which five or six deer and a pair of buffalo 
roam in view of passing trains. Being a stock fancier, Mr. Atkins owns large numbers 
of thoroughbred horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, etc. ; and for the comfort of his animals 



458 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

has built ample barn accommodation, pens and yards. Duck and fish ponds are 
also to be found there, which contribute in no small degree to the general beauty 
and attractiveness of Spring Lawn. 

The place contains three churches — Presbyterian, Methodist and Lutheran ; a 
fine brick school building — four departments for graded schools ; three cheese facto- 
ries ; steam flouring mill ; steam saw mill ; three wagon and carriage shops ; four 
dry goods stores ; two hardware stores : three millinery stores ; boot and shoe, drug, 
grocery, harness, furniture stores, etc. There are thi"ee hotels, all doing a good 
business. The three nurseries there furnish the property owners with every variety 
of trees and vegetable plants. Joseph Kennicott and John Clem are owners of the 
nurseries. 

Taking the above facts into consideration, we look upon Arlington Heights as 
being on the high road to success. It extends every inducement to pei-sons seeking 
suburban homes, supplying at .its very doors every article necessary to make home 
comfortable. 



PALATINE. 

A distance of a few miles from business forms no impediment to the settlement 
■of a suburb by people doing business in Chicago, as is evidenced by over sixty com- 
fortable residences erected by this class of people alone, in Palatine. The place 
owing to priority of settlement, is more familiar to the reader than some of the others 
noted in this volume ; and the gathering of 1,500 people at that place has made it a 
flourishing village. It is a market for the agricultural products of the southwest 
vicinage of Chicago, and thirteen business houses are in operation. Two elevators 
are built, from which were shipped, last year, 400,000 bushels of small grain. The 
place lies on the high divide between the Aux Plaines and Fox rivers, and conse- 
quently all the land is eligible to settlement and cultivation. Its location is twenty- 
two miles from the city, on the Wisconsin Division of the Chicago & Northwestern 
railroad, and sixteen passenger trains call at its depot each day. The commutation 
rate of fare is $95 for an annual ticket. 

- An artesian well is being sunk, which will supply abundance of water for fire 
and other purposes. 

Three church edifices, and a handsome graded school-building, worth $11,000, 
rank among the most prominent improvements. In dwellings, those of Messrs. M. 
H. Lytle, Geo. C. Whipple, M. S. Johnson, James Wilson, Chas. Chery and R. S. 
Williamson are among the best. 

All the streets are lighted and excellently finished, provided with sidewalks, etc. 
Palatine was platted seventeen years ago, by Joel Wood, and since that time has 
been steadily growing, and values moving gradually upward, though the morbid 
excitement in the land market of nearer districts has caused no rapid or extraordi- 
nary jumps in prices. The lots retail at from $5 to $60 per foot, and tracts circumja- 
cent are selling at from $75 to $300 per acre. 

It is universally conceded to be the best town lying near the city, and on the 
line of the Wisconsin Division. 



INDEX. 

c 



A. 

PAGE 

.Academy of Sciences 150 

Alaska Fur Trade 102 

America, Total Railroads in 101 

American Fur Company 27 

" American," newspaper 40-49 

Appropriations, (see Harbor and Canal) 

Area of City 28, 36, 41, 44, 51 

Arlington Heights, Village of.. 455 

Armstrong, Fort _. 28 

Arrivals and Clearances for past ten years 292 

Ashland Avenue 255-257 

Astor, John J 27 

Asylums and Hospitals 144 

Auburn, Village of. '. 402 

Austin, Village of 424 

B. 

Baltimore & Ohio railroad ; 28 

Banks and banking 

Bank Clearings 294 

Banks in 1873 294 

Currency in 1853 65-66 

Currency in 1861. ._ ,.. 158 

Of issue in Illinois abolished ... 65 

Of issue in Illinois restored 65 

Bates, Edward.. 50 

"Big Wind" 23 

Black Hawk War 33 

Board of Trade 55 

Chamber of Commerce. 159 

Chamber of Commerce. 162 

Chamber of Commerce organized.. 159 

Correct abuses 152 

Course after the Fire 91 

Crisis of 1861.. .- 156 

Delegation at Washington 155 

Early particulars 53-63 

End of spouting in 154 

.Erection of new Building .-159-162 



460 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

PAGE: 
Exigency of the Fire 152 

First call for 55< 

Great Bank Project 154 

In the Crisis of '57 154 

In wartimes 156 

Loyalty of 15? 

Officers of the Board, 1856 _ 63 

Officers of the Board, 1872 153 

Officers of, 1873--. 153 

Organized for business 155 

Provide Currency Relief 158 

The Board "Means Business" 155 

Bogus Lots .., 187 

Boundary of Illinois 25-41 

Bread, from East 43,44 

Bridges ...32, 36, 39, 42, 55 

Buildings 40, 44, 45. 

c. 

Caldwell, Billy 28 

California Trade 115,116 

Canal, Illinois & Michigan, 

Canal Boards.. 30,31 

Canal deepened 78 

Canal, Erie 28 

Canal, Suez 23, 114 

Congress on 26, 30, 118 

Legislature on 30, 31 

Loan for 47 

President Madison on 26 

Work begun on 43 

Work ended on 47 

Carriage, Railway, (See Railroads.) 1 

Charitable Institutions 149 1 

Checagou, Fort, French 21 

Chicago as a Borrower 295 

Chicago & Pacific R. R. Stations, Other 439 

Chicago Grain Trade, from the Beginning, to Date 285 

Chicago vs. St Louis 292,293 

Chicago's Characteristics 163-176 

A Contributor's Estimate 177 

An Epoch of - 42 

City Census, 1837 44 

Early Taxes 50 

Finances of 39,43 

Future of Chicago 169 

General Characteristics ... 163 

Incorporated as City 42 

Incorporated as Town 35 

In 1831, Value of.... 31 

In 1833-4, appearance of 35, 36 

Intolerant of Rings 165 

List of Citizens -.. 35 

Meaning of the Name 20,21 

Natural Site of 19, 20 

Peculiarities 166-168 

People not boastful 164 

Property of (See Taxable Property.) 






INDEX. 461 



PAGE 

Rigid and Sober Analysis of the Case 169-176 

"Starve or Work " , 44 

The Child of Railway System : 104 

University of . . - 147 

Cholera 32,55 

Churches 144 #5 6'eq. 

City Pleasure Grounds . 337-340 

Lincoln Park 337 

Jefferson Park 340 

Union Park 339 

Clarendon Hills. Village of 421 

•"Clarissa," First Vessel Built . 43 

Climate of Chicago, (See Introduction.) 

Clyde, Village of. L 412 

Colleges, (See Universities, etc.) 

Commerce of Chicago 119 

Clearing House Business 125 

Direct Importation for Merchandise.. 125 

Growth of the Merchandise Jobbing Trade 121 

History of Leading Houses 123 

Produce Trade from 1857 to '72 120 

Sales of 1872 and '73 .123,124 

•Commercial, Mouth of Mississippi River 29 

Convention, River and Harbor , 49,50 

Cook County 31 

Area of. 186 

Subdivision 186 

Topography 182,184 

Cornell, Village of. 457 

Cotton, Possibly for Chicago - 117 

Cotton Trade 116 

Crackers and Ale __' 153 

Crises, of '37 '57 '61 and '71 44, 152, 154, 156, 157 

Culmination of Railway System 111 

Currency, (See Banks,— Board of Trade.) 

D. 

Danby, Village of 433 

Date, A Most Significant 44 

"Democrat," First Newspaper 36 

Desplaines, Village of 453 

Differential Analysis of Chicago, etc 67 

Direct Importations 290 

Disbursements of U.S. Supported Town 43 

Disgusted Officials 39 

"Dominion, Old" (See Virginia.) 

Dominion Plans for Navigation 117, 118 

Downer's Grove, Village of 1 422 

Drama, First '. ,. 49 

Drink, 40 Places for 43 

Ducks Shot from Tremont Hotel 36 

E. 

East, in Relation to Chicago 170,171 

"Egypt" 112 

Elevators, First 54 

Elevators, Steam 61 



462 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

PAGE: 

Elmhurst, Village of . 432?' 

Engines, First Fire 40,41 

Englewood, "Village of . 398 

Enterprise, Character of Chicago's 168-171 

Enterprise in President Jackson's Time 37 

Evanston, Village of 378 

Eventful Year.. „ 29 

Exposition Building 238 

Extortion Restrained _. 31 

F. 

Ferry, First 28 

Finances of Chicago 39,43 

Fire, Oct 9, 10, 1871 79 

Action of the State... 91 

Business of the Year Following 93 

Business Re-organized 88 

Elan of Chicago Merchants 89 

Fatalities and Losses 82-85 

No Water 81 

Rebuilding 95 

Relief for the Sufferers... 87 

Remarkable Features of. 80 

Superfluous Condolements 88 

Value of New Buildings 97 

Fontainbleau, Treaty of... 22 

Forecast, (See Railroads.) 

Fort Dearborn 24 

Established 24 

Rebuilt 26 

The Acropolis 39 

Franquelin's Maps, 1864 - 20 

French Jesuits 21,22 

Fur Trade. ...26-28 

G. 

Galena Railroad (see Railroads) 

Galewood, Village of 436 

" Garden City" 48 

Gas, First 55 

General Scott 33- 

Glencoe, Village of 396- 

Grain , 50,59,60,61 

Grant (see Land Grants) 

Graveyard Tests. 40' 

Grayland, Village of 445 

Greeley, Horace 50 

Green Bay, Supplies from 27,28 

Greenville, Ohio, Treaty of 25 

Grog-shops of Old 43 

H. 

Harbor — > - 29, 33, 35, 45, 47 

Hawthorne, Village of 415 

Heald, Capt 25 

Healthfuluess of Chicago's Location 183 



INDEX. 463 



PAGE 

Hennepin, Father. 22 

Hercules, the Modern, Twelve Labors of.. ... 74 

Highland Park. Village of 393 

High wood. Village of 395 

Hinsdale, Village of... _ 418 

Historical Society 150 

House, First, Built in 1674 22 

Household Habits of Chicago People. : 187 

Humboldt, Village of. 434 

Hunt, Bear and Wolf 35 

Hyde Park, Village of 352 

Hypothetical Cities 37 

c 1. 

Illinois 

Boundary of 25 

Central Railroad * .56, 104 

Low Credit of 47 

State 27 

Territory 25 

"Illinois County, Virginia " „ 23 

Immigration 32, 36, 39, 43 

Incorporation (see Chicago) . _. 

Indians, Depredations of 25 

Influence of Railroads 112 

Institutions of Chicago... 144 

Inter-Continental Trade 114, 115 

Iron Horse at Chicago 53 

Irving Park, Village of 442 



J- 



Jackson's Creek Thunderbolts 20 

Jail, First 35 

Jealousy Between Sections of Town _ .33-36 

Jefferson, Joe 1 49 

Jefferson, President 24 

Jefferson, Village of. 447 

Joliet 21, 22 

K. 

Kelvyn Grove, Village of 435 

Kenwood, Village of 355 

Kinzie, John, Pioneer. 24, 26, 27 

L. 

Lac des Illinois. . 21 

LaGrange, Village of 417 

LakeBisin, in 1840 46 

Lake Forest, Village of.. 396 

Lake Market, Spontaniety of 29, 30, 103 

Lake Tunnel 76 

Lake View, Village of 343 

Landlord, Original 24 

Land, Rights of Way, and Ninety Feet... 30 



464 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

PAGE 

Land, to Canal 26, 30, 118 

Land, to Illinois Central Railroad _. 56 

Land Office __ 36, 37 

LaSalle .. 22 

Legislature of Illinois, on Railroads 37 

Le Mai 24 

Le Sieur, Sanson _. 22 

Length of All Rail in America '. 101 

Lewis & Clark's Expedition 24 

Library, Public.. 150 

Lists, Statistical .35, 68, 71, 72, 73 

Live Stock Receipts and Shipments, for Sixteen Years 284 

Lombard, Village of 432 

Lots, Bogus 187 

Lots in Cook County, Official Statement — 186 

Lots in 1834 38 

Lots in 1847. 51 

Lots, Number Wanted Before 1880 ----- 188 

Louisiana Acquired 24 

Loyalty of Chicago Board of Trade. 157 

M. 

Madison, President 26 

Mails, Early 32 

Manufactures of Chicago - - 128 

Early -64,65 

South Branch District 138 

South Chicago District 141 

Splendid Showing for 1872 130 

Statistics for 1870 - - 130 

Wonderful Development in Thirteen Years 130 

Map, Earliest of Chicago 28 

Maplewood, Village of 428 

Marquette, Father 21, 22 

Massachusetts, Railroads of, per Square Miles Ill 

Massacre of 1812.. .. ,. 26 

Mayors of Chicago Since 1837 - - 279 

Maywood, Village of .. 439 

Medical Colleges - 149 

Melrose, Village of... - 430 

Merchandizing 63, 64 

After the Fire - 89 

"Miltimore's Folly" 48,49 

Mont Clare, Village of 436 

Montrose, Village of _ 446 

Mount Forest, Village of - ... 411 

N. 

National Banks of Chicago 294 

Natives of Chicago, First White, Claim 26 

Newspapers of Chicago . 261 

"Evening Journal" 273 

"Evening Mail" 275,276 

"Evening Post" ■ 273-275 

"Inter-Ocean" .268-271 

" Staats Zeitung " 271-273 



INDEX. 465 

PA&3 
The First Daily.. _ 49 

The First One 86 

The Second One 40 

" Times " 265-268 

"Tribune". 261-265 

New York, Norfolk, Chicago and Cairo . 23 

Nilee, Michigan, Mails from _ _ .- 32 

North Evanston, Village of 383 

Northwestern Car Shops 422 

Northwestern University 147 

Northwest Territory 22 

Norwood Park, Village of 448 

c 

o. 

Oakland, Village of __ 354 

Oak Park, Village of 426 

Oakwood, Village of _. 369 

Occupation, French. 22 

Ogden, Wm. B., Mayor 42 

"Old Dominion, " Chicago in 22 

Opera Houses. 144 

Ordinances of 1787.- 23 

Ordinances (see Ten Commandments) 

P. 

Pacific Trade.. 57 

Pacific, Village of 436 

Packing Trade .... 47 

Palatine, Village of T 458 

Palmer House ... 232 

Park Ridge, Village of 451 

Parkside, Village of 357 

Parks of Chicago 313-340 

South Parks „■ 314-324 

Acquiring the Lands . 316 

Appraisal of Lands 315 

Details of the Plan of Ornamentation 320 

Failure and Second Attempt 314 

First Board of Commissioners 315 

Great Bargains in Park Lands 319 

Litigation 315 

Origin 313 

Raising the Means 316 

West Parks — . 325-336 

Acquiring the Lands... 326 

Description of the Grounds ...327-332 

First Organization - - 328 

Good Bargains in Circumjacent Lands 332-336 

Plank Roads 50 

Policy of Land Grants 57 

Pope, Nathaniel 25 

Population 39,44, 50, 54, 59 

At Twenty-one Different Dates 297 

Estimated for 1884, January 1st 178 

Portage, Ancient 19 

Post-Office .--- -.34,35 

Post-Office, New, Cost, etc, 97 

30 



466 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

TAQK 

Pottawattomiea .. 35. 

Powell Estate (See Maplewood) . 

Principal Thoroughfares of Chicago . 981 

Ashland Avenue - 255 

Clark Street i 345 

Dearborn Street.. 343 

East of Indiana Avenue 243 

Fifth Avenue - - 348 

Franklin Street 348 

Indiana Avenue . - 341 

Lake Street 350 

LaSalle Street - 246 

Madison Street 255 

Market Street 1 248 

Michigan Avenue 237 

Randolph Street 250 

South Water Street 34» 

State Street... 331 

Wabash Avenue _. 235 

Washington Street .351-255 

Private Schools 144 

Produce Trade, Progress of 44, 45, 47, 50 

Projected Lines of Transportation 108, 109 

Public Libra ries 144 

Public Schools 144 

R. 

Railroads in Detail — 

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 38 

Chicago & Northwestern 103 

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 104 

Chicago, Danville <& Vincennes. 107 

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 103 

First Locomotive at Chicago 54 

Forecast of Chicago's System 51, 53 

Galena Road 44,53,54 

Illinois Central .....56,104 

Legislation on 37 

Particulars of Carriage to and from Chicago 113 

Rise of Competing Eastern Roads 53 

Rock Island & Alton 104 

The Epoch of Railroads 57 

Railroads, Total Length in North America 101 

Chicago and South Carolina 103 

Commodities Carried by Rail — Grand Totals in Bulk and Value 101 

Influence on Production 113 

Per Square Mile in Massachusetts Ill 

System at Large as to Chicago.. 101, 107, 108 

Tributary to Chicago, Miles 105-108 

Via North and Northwest 103 

Via South and Southwest 102,103, 113 

Railways, City. 144 

Ravenswood, Village of 370 

Real Estate Market of Chicago 193 

Abstract Business of Chicago 207-213 

Afterthe Crash 198 

After the War 203 

Aggregate Sales of Five Years. •. 205 

AProfitable Boulevard Trade 218 



INDEX. 467 



PAGB 

Burnt Records Bill 210 

Consequences of the Great Fire 204 

Dr. Egan's Pills 201 

During the War. 203 

Episodes of. Trade 214 

First Car-shop Speculation 217 

First Transaction 193 

Four Thousand Dollars for $2,500,000 worth of property 215 

Increase of Suburban Business 204 

Inflation Period of 1835-7 195 

Ingratitude to Uncle Sam _ 199 

In 1834 r _ 38 

John S. Wright's Experience. . . '- 214 

Land Titles of Chicago 206 

Notable Canal Sales 194 

Original Division of the Town 207 

Other Profitable Operations . _ ._ 219-223 

Panic of '57 201 

Panics and Real Estate. 202 

Prices Twenty Years Ago... 199 

Real Estate Guild, Twenty Years Ago 200 

Real Estate in Tight Times 216 

Recovery from the Collapse 198 

River Lots in 1835. 196 

Sales Reported by Dealers 306-310 

State Relief to Unwise Buyers 195 

Table of Sales and Prices 298-306 

Values of Business Land 224 

As Indicated by Rentals 225 

In Chicago 225 

In London 224 

In New York . 224 

Selling Prices Much Less 226, 227 

Receipts and Shipments of Leading Commodities for First Nine Months of 1872 and 1873, 281 
Receipts and Shipments of Leading Commodities for First Nine Months of 1847 to 1872.282, 283 

Relief and Aid Society. '.'. 149 

Religion ........33,34, 144 

Revulsions, Commercial 65, 66 

Riverside, Village of _ 415 

Ridgeland, Village of 425 

Ridgelawn, Village of 450 

River Park, Village of 437 

River Forest, Village of 427 

Rosehill Cemetery 371 

Rogers' Park, Village of 374 

Routes of Transit and Their Carrying Business 288, 289 

s. 

Sable, Jean Baptiste Point, Au 24 

Scenes in 1834-5 - -- 40 

Schools of Chicago. 146, 147,148,149 

Lands Squandered. 34 

Early 25,33,34,48 

Scott, General Winfield. - 32, 33 

Site, Natural, of Chicago 19, 20 

"Skunk" not What " Chicago " Means 20, 21 

Sluices Across Clark Street 42 

Societies 144 



'k 




468 CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS. 

PACFB 

South Chicago, Village of 35$) 

South Englewood 401 

South Evaneton 375 

South Lawn, Village of 369 

South Shore 359 

South Park 356 

Speculation 29, 57, 38 

Stage Line, First 39,35,86 

States Tributary to Chicago, their Population 294 

Statistics : 59, 60 

Steamboat, "Sheldon Thompson" 38 

Suburban Tendency 188 

Suburbs of Chicagoj 341 

Suez Canal 8,114 

Survey, Site for Chicago , 28 

Surveyor, County, Statementof 186 

Swindlers in Lots. - 187 



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Tables, Statistical 67, 69, 70, 71 

Tamaroas, Aborigines 21 

Taverns 82 

Taxes, Earliest 36 

Teas 115 

"Ten Commandments'' 86 

Theological Schools 147 

Thunder God 8,20 

Tonnage of the Port, for 1872 291 

Topography of Chicago and its Environs. 182 

Town Incorporated - 35 

" Tracy," Schooner. 24 

Trade, Revival of 46, 47,54 

Trade (see Board of Trade, Grain, Produce, etc.) - 

Trans-Continental, the Great Trade, Idea Older than the American Revolution 28 

Tunnel, Lake - -- 76 

u. 

United States, Cession of Northwest Territory to, by Virginia 22 

V. 

Valuation of Real Estate from 1838 to 1873 - - 280 

Vessels - - 32,46 

Virginia, Chicago Once in 22 

Great Enterprises of Old - 23 

w. 

Washington Heights - 405 

Water Works 43,48,55 

Wharf Rights Squandered - 41 

Wheat, First Shipments East - 46 

Wilmette 385 

Winnetka - -- 390 

Winter of 1831-2, in Port.-.. - - 32 

Wisconsin, Chicago in - - 26 

Wolf Point - -- 33 

Woodlawn 356 






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